Fortitude
by yeknodelttil
Summary: SEQUEL TO PREDETERMINED They managed to rewrite Erin's destiny but not everything is going smoothly. They both have to learn how to forgive and have the fortitude to continue to face the challenges thrown their way. ADDED 29 & 30! COMPLETE! Sequel News!
1. Stake

**Fortitude**

_Author: yeknodelttil_

_Show: Young Dracula_

_Rating: K+_

_Genre: Romance_

_Pairing: Vlad/Erin_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Young Dracula. This is purely for the enjoyment of its fans, created by a fan_

_Spoilers: Series 3 of Young Dracula._

Summary: SEQUEL TO PREDETERMINED. They managed to rewrite Erin's destiny but not everything is going smoothly for Vlad and Erin. They both have to learn how to forgive and have the fortitude to continue to face the challenges thrown their way. Vlad/Erin.

_A/N: Thanks to everyone who read the prequel 'Predetermined', as you can guess this one picks up directly after the events of the final chapter. (Sorry I couldn't resist)._

_I solemnly swear to try and post at about 10pm everyday. I've extended it about half an hour because my posts for the last fic were usually about that time._

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Chapter 1: Stake

Erin's first and only thought had been to get Vlad out of the way as fast as possible. He wouldn't notice it in time. She knew she'd have to use some force to push him out of the way.

She managed to summon up the strength to push him aside, he slammed into Robin and safely out of harms way.

Then she felt it, something sliding into the flesh of her stomach. It didn't hurt though – but that would soon change.

Erin lowered her hand to her stomach lifting it slowly seeing the blood that coated it. She looked down seeing the unmistakable hawthorn of a stake protruding from her stomach.

Erin stumbled back into Vlad, feeling her legs begin to buckle. She grabbed at his leather, her hands sliding straight off it.

She heard him gasp and she knew he'd seen it.

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Everything seemed to go in slow motion. Erin's blood pooled from the wound. The stake was firmly buried in her stomach.

The stake was a long one, even though it had been snapped in the fight with Andrew. It was buried up to the handle in her. The stake itself was three inches thick at its widest point (the base), it had snapped off leaving a jagged edge one and a half inches thick.

At first she didn't seem to be aware of it in her but then she felt it. Her nerves screaming out that it was there.

Vlad's face was a mixture of shock and horror. His mind went blank before panicking. He held her tightly as her knees gave out. The delicious scent of her blood filled his nostrils as it caked his leather and leaked from her wound.

The other vampires in the room didn't react in their usual manner towards being near blood. Each one had concern for her in their eyes, drinking the easy pickings of her blood was pushed from their minds. It wasn't right, definitely not when she'd saved Vlad.

Vlad slowly lowered Erin to the floor. Kneeling behind her, he pulled her against his chest, propping her up slightly. Erin grasped his forearms, trying to hold onto something. The pain flowing through her never seeming to ebb. She gripped his arms tightly as she tried to find a way to release her pain – she knew it wouldn't hurt him physically.

He pressed his hand to the wound trying to stem the flow of blood, Erin cried out as he inadvertently hurt her more.

Her breaths came in short gasps and her face had already lost its colour.

"RENFIELD!" She heard the Count roar somewhere behind her.

She looked up seeing the horrified faces of her parents and the Draculas. She could see her parents were itching to come closer but even like this she didn't want them near her. Even Andrew looked horrified at what he'd done, the accidental staking of a human was rare and a very serious offence.

Robin seemed to be lurking in the shadows, scared stiff of getting close to her. That might have been the best option for him at the moment.

"Vlad?" She asked him terrified, looking up at him. He gave her a smile.

"You'll be okay." He promised, his voice cracking as he let out a small prayer to whoever was listening that she'd be okay.

"I don't think it's a little cut." She gasped at him, it was much more serious than that. Stakes were just as deadly to humans as vampires as she was now helping to prove.

Vlad's eyes involuntarily travelled down her body to the stake before they flew back to her eyes. "We'll get it out and you'll be fine." Erin squeezed her eyes shut tighter, the pain was unbearable. Tears leaked out of the corner of her eyes. "Why did you do it?" He whispered to her.

Erin gave him her patent 'isn't it obvious' glare; even dying she could still do that. "I didn't want to lose you."

"I can't lose you Erin." Vlad whispered to her, pressing his face to her hair. His treacherous tears leaking into and soaking her hair. "I'm supposed to protect you."

"It works both ways Vlad, you saved me in the sunlight, I saved you."

Erin clutched at her stomach instinctively, trying to remove the discomfort there. If she moved it she'd bleed to death faster.

"Vlad don't let her touch it." Bertrand told him firmly, he couldn't risk Erin pulling it out yet.

Vlad grabbed her hands and held them in his. Her blood making his fingers slick and sticky. Erin looked up at him her eyes glazing slightly.

"I'm scared." She whispered.

"I'm here." He answered, "I'm not going anywhere." He promised. Erin nodded sluggishly her eyes beginning to close slowly. He nudged her automatically. "Don't you dare close your eyes." If she closed them he knew she'd never open them again.

Erin was suddenly feeling exhausted, "Tired."

"Come on, stay awake, stake awake for me." He chanted over and over again. Erin's eyes kept fluttering closed and snapping open. "Where's Renfield?" He snapped at his father.

That was a question no one could answer at the moment.

If Renfield didn't get here then they'd lose her, that's if he could actually do anything for her.

There was one thing that might save her though. The Count was the only one willing to broach the topic. "Vlad you need to change her." The Count told his son gently. This had never been done before; no one had ever been saved from such an injury by being transformed. If this worked Erin would be the first.

There was a law that stopped him, "I can't legally…"

Bertrand was the one who corrected him, "You can because there's no other choice. She's yours by claim."

There was another thing to consider, "The Truce…"

Jonno answered, he had the answer to that, "You're not biting her because you want to, you're biting her because it's the only choice you have to save her. The Truce still stands." Jonno knew Vlad wasn't violating the terms of the Truce, besides no vampire would usually bite someone to save them.

Vlad shook his head. "I can't." He couldn't do it; he'd get it wrong. He wouldn't know when to stop.

Erin seemed to sense what he was thinking. Erin nodded slowly, "You can." She let out a gasp. "I need to become one anyway." It was inevitable; it was part of eventually mating with him.

It wasn't supposed to be like this, Erin was supposed to have the chance to chance her mind. This wasn't supposed to happen for at least another two months and if he had his way – three years.

"Not. Like. This." He sounded out through clenched teeth; this wasn't how he ever wanted her to become one of them. This couldn't be taken lightly even if she was at death's door. "Renfield can…"

There must be another way.

Erin lifted a trembling hand to his face, cupping it softly. "You know he can't. Its okay Vlad." She stoked his cheek.

"It might not save you." He whispered, there was no guarantee she'd transform straight away.

"It's the only thing you can do." It was worth the risk.

Bertrand spoke quietly. "Vlad's she's loosing too much blood. Even Renfield won't be able to…"

Vlad shook his head; he looked towards the refrigerated cupboard in the corner of the room. "We've got blood bags we can give her some more."

"We haven't got enough of her blood type. Slayers blood needs to be transfused with slayers' blood, her body will reject it."

Their blood was a fraction different to normal breather's blood. Usually they would be treated by their own kind but Erin didn't have that luxury.

Everyone's gaze fixed on Vlad and he knew he'd have to do it. The worst part was part of him wanted it.

Vlad closed his eyes before nodding. "I'll do it."

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Vlad positioned himself more carefully, he looked at Erin she really was terrified. Erin wasn't terrified of being bitten she was terrified of what was happening now.

Vlad's gaze wandered back down to the stake before looking back up at her.

"It needs to be out." Vlad told them firmly, if he was going to do this then the stake couldn't remain in there.

"Wait until you've bitten her." The Count told his son firmly.

Vlad shook his head, he couldn't let it remain inside her body. "If she transforms straight away she'll turn to dust."

The Count needed him to think in terms of her being a breather, "If you take it out she'll bleed to death faster." The stake was helping stem the blood flow at the moment, once it was removed then there was nothing that would stop it being forced forward and out of her wound.

"The stake might break even further, we need to make sure its out."

"Take it out." Erin's weak voice told them, she understood the situation. Even the smallest residue of stake inside her would reduce her to dust if the transformation happened quickly as they hoped it would.

Bertrand moved closer, he'd been in battle; he'd done this before. He'd saved many a vampire child in the wars, when they had received similar injuries.

He placed his hand on top of Vlad's. The young vampire's hand was shaking too much to do this. "I'll do it."

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Vlad nodded and carefully let go of the stake taking care not to jostle it. Bertrand's more steady hand took over.

"Lie her down." Vlad nodded and slowly laid her flat on the floor, he yanked his leather jacket off, her blood was dripping off it. He couldn't stand the noise of the droplets hitting the floorboards. The moment he lost his jacket he felt her blood seeing though his shirt.

"Vlad you'll need to hold her still." Bertrand warned him as he grasped the stake firmly in his hand.

Vlad nodded, he could hold her, he'd just have to be careful he didn't use too much pressure and accidentally break her collarbones.

Erin grasped his fingers firmly and Vlad squeezed back just as firmly. He leaned down and kissed her lips tenderly, savouring the contact in case it was his last.

Bertrand looked at Erin, his eyes were deadly serious, "This will hurt." She nodded and bit her lip. "She'll need something to bite."

He'd seen men on the battlefields treated like this by the medics attending them, no anaesthetic for her. This would be agonising for her.

Vlad looked around trying to find something for her to bite, he couldn't find anything. He needed something her teeth wouldn't break. An idea came to him and he let go of her for the briefest of seconds to rip the belt off his trousers, it was only decoration on this pair.

He twisted the leather before placing it into her mouth.

"I smell bl…" Ingrid trailed off as she saw the source of the blood looking at her bloodstained brother. Blood was all across his face and she could see the darker marks on his shirt and the residue on the floor. If she hadn't known him better she would've thought he'd bitten someone. The smell of the blood had woken her from her unconscious state.

They'd all forgotten about Ingrid, she'd been knocked out by Erin's mother. She looked down at Vlad seeing the tears in his eyes.

Erin's face was still contorted in pain.

Ingrid stared at the wound, it was strange she was used to seeing blood and she was used to biting breathers' necks but seeing a wound like that made her feel sick.

She's seen vampires being slain with stakes but they usually crumbled into dust nothing left as much devastation as this.

Erin suddenly began to spasm on the floor, she was shivering, her eye lids half closed. Vlad tried to hold her still but her legs were causing the trouble.

"She's going into shock." Bertrand told him, "We need to do this now."

"What can I do?" Ingrid asked.

Bertrand looked up at her, he spoke the softest he'd ever spoken, "Hold her legs."

Ingrid grabbed her legs firmly and held Erin still, she had the same problem as Vlad she couldn't risk breaking Erin's legs.

Erin eventually stopped moving and her eyes opened fully, Vlad had hoped she'd passed out this would be easier on him.

He nodded to Vlad letting him know he was ready. The future Grand High Vampire nodded preparing himself for this.

Slowly Bertrand began to withdraw the stake.

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Erin screamed. The sensation was unbearable. The vampires in the room winced as her screams resounded in their heads.

The slayers automatically clutched their ears.

Vlad pressed harder as Erin tried to arch away and roll away from him.

Streams of wetness flew down Erin's cheeks,

Bertrand looked at the stake, he looked to Vlad. The stake had snapped again, there was a jagged break. Shards were still in her abdomen. Vlad nearly retched at the sight of her muscle exposed. Ingrid turned away.

"How many pieces?" The Count asked him.

"I don't know." Bertrand honestly didn't know. "I'll be as quick as I can." He promised Vlad and Erin.

"No." Erin whimpered around the belt, "Please no." Vlad could see the tears she'd put into the belt from the force she'd clamped around it in her agony.

They couldn't press anything against the wound in case the shards were pushed deeper in causing even more damage. Vlad needed to convince her quickly.

Vlad's mouth opened and closed, he didn't want this to continue either but he didn't have a choice. "He has to." Vlad told her, his voice cracking, he hated doing this to her. "I can't do anything until every last splinter is out of her." He didn't want her to be in pain. "When they're out I can bite you." He promised her.

Erin nodded slowly, tensing up in preparation for what was about to follow.

Bertrand looked at them both before plunging his hand into her stomach, the wound so deep his long fingers completely disappeared.

Erin screamed and withered as it felt like a poker was being thrust into her stomach. The pain burned through her as Bertrand tried to locate the small shards of the hawthorn stake that had broken off.

A loud crack echoed around the room and Vlad turned to one side and was physically sick as Erin screamed – but it wasn't at what Bertrand was doing. He couldn't believe what he'd just done. He'd broken her left collarbone trying to hold her in place.

Ingrid watched as her brother wiped his mouth on the shoulder of his shirt, unwilling to move his hands from Erin. "You didn't do it on purpose." Ingrid told him, fighting the gagging sensation forcing its way up her throat. She'd had to use increased pressure on Erin, legs bones were much stronger than collarbones.

Vlad nodded slowly, it didn't mean it wouldn't haunt him though.

Bertrand threw a shard across the room, before rooting around once more in her muscle trying to find other pieces, he needed to do this before she bled to death.

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Bertrand let out a triumphant cry as he grasped the last shard and yanked it out from where it was buried.

Erin had passed out completely now, the combined pain of her collarbone and the stake too much for her to bear. They were glad she couldn't' feel this now.

Bertrand stepped back, for the first time he was actually shaking at what he'd just done. Ingrid let go of Erin and grabbed his hands. Usually Bertrand would drink any blood but Erin's was a different story.

Ingrid wiped the blood from them, before washing them in one of the bottles of water Erin stored in the cupboard next to her brother's soy blood. She could feel his fingers trembling but she didn't comment on it. What he'd just done had taken more courage than any of them had.

Mina let go of Andrew, leaving Jonno holding him and helped hold the discarded leather jacket to Erin's wound, trying to stem the blood flow. She pressed both hands to the jacket, getting blood all over her as she did so.

Vlad moved around Erin, he knew what he had to do now. The Count moved closer to Vlad, grasping his shoulder tightly. "You need to be quick." The Count told his son and Vlad nodded.

Vlad leaned over Erin, his fangs lowering. They hadn't tingled once at the sight of her blood and he'd had to force them this time. Vlad wished that he didn't have an audience for this, this was a very intimate thing to do. His family would.

Vlad felt garlic being pressed into his neck. The slayers hadn't done that good a job at disarming them.

"You're not biting my daughter."

TBC

_A/N: Thanks for reading._


	2. Bite

_A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1._

IMPORTANT

_Answering a question: No I don't have another account. So I'm not quite sure what people mean when they've asked my why I've posted 'Predetermined' (mainly Erin's prearranged marriage and conditions) twice with a bit of 'Grey Inbetween' (in particular Vlad's slayer-caused fever) mixed in and no I haven't altered their ages, Vlad and Erin are still seventeen in my fics._

_If there *is* a fic out there using these plots it *hasn't* been with my permission, but I haven't got another account. If these have been taken and used without asking me I'm very hurt and annoyed because I spend hours plotting and typing them for someone else to just take them._

_If it continues I don't think I'll be able to continue my YD fics, as it's not fair to write someone else's at the same time as my own as much as I love writing these stories._

Chapter 2: Bite

Everyone looked at Tom, unable to believe his position on this. Thanks to him choosing Andrew for her to marry they had been forced to cause her more pain trying to save her after Andrew had staked her. This was the only thing that might save his daughter and he was trying to stop them from doing so.

"It's the only thing that will save your daughter." The Count told him firmly.

"I don't want her to become one of you."

"Erin said she didn't want anything to do with you anymore, so it isn't your choice." Ingrid snapped at him.

Thomas bristled at Ingrid's answer, the garlic burned deeper into Vlad's neck. "You bite her and I will kill you."

"It's Erin's choice, she's bleeding to death. I have to bite her if she's to survive." Vlad told him sharply, his voice coming out more of a warning. Ingrid had a feeling that Vlad would literally bite him if he stopped him from saving Erin.

Steph surprised them all; she shoved her husband's hand away from Vlad's neck. The garlic flew across the room landing near the Count, who kicked it into the roaring fire. "I want my daughter back, I don't care if she's a vampire. She'll be alive."

Tom shook his head. "She'll be dead." Only dead in the sense her heart no longer beat. Her mind would still be there.

Steph's face turned violet as she stared at him, he'd already cost them both of his children and she wanted them *both* back. "I don't care, I nearly lost my son because of you Thomas. I want my daughter back even if you don't."

"She'll be one of them."

"He loves her and she loves him." She pointed towards Vlad, "If she loves him then she knew this would happen, she's accepted it. He can save her." Thomas quietened at his wife's stern tone. She'd never dared contradict him like that in public before. "Do it."

Vlad studied his fiancée's mother; she nodded confirming it was what she wanted. He had her consent that was one thing. He had his father's as well so it would be his defence if they accused him of illegally transforming her.

"Vlad…" His sister prompted, he needed to act now, they couldn't wait another moment.

Vlad nodded slowly, he knew what he had to do. Erin had told him to do it so he had that to consol him somewhat.

He closed his eyes for a moment, calming himself. He'd never done this before he only hoped he did it right.

The young vampire extended his fangs again. He was glad Erin wouldn't know what was happening.

Slowly he pierced the tender flesh on her left side of her throat with his sharp fangs.

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Within seconds of tearing though her flesh he knew why vampires loved fresh human blood so much. The warmth of her blood couldn't be simulated at any cost; bottled blood couldn't be heated to the same temperature.

Her blood was like delicious nectar, filling him completely. It tasted sweet and innocent; he could feel the love in it. It was nothing like slayers blood – or he didn't think so from the bitter taste his father described.

His eyes closed instinctively as he drank but he didn't take her blood greedily although every nerve told him to do so. He could feel her body cooling somewhat and he wasn't sure if it was because of him or the stake wound.

Erin didn't move or react and that was what he wanted, he'd heard stories of the instinctive struggle their victims put up and the accidental breaking of bones that followed from trying to hold on their prey. He'd already broken one of her bones he didn't want to break anymore.

He knew he couldn't take much more; she wouldn't have any chance of survival at all.

Vlad pulled back but not before pressing a kiss to her bite mark, wiping his fangs on his sleeve. He didn't want to look like a bloodthirsty vampire in front of everyone.

Something appeared in front of him and Vlad recognised it as bat vomit. They obviously weren't going to take the chance he'd be allergic to her blood.

He didn't feel unwell so he shook his head. He didn't want to lose the taste of her blood if it was the last thing he had of her.

He looked up at Bertrand who nodded, he'd done well.

Suddenly the door banged open and Renfield darted in, "Where for garlic's sake have you been?" Vlad shouted at him, his anger brimming before ebbing. It was done now.

There was no way they could guarantee this would work. They could only wait.

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Vlad remained vigil at Erin's side over the next hour or two sitting on the floor gripping her hand tightly in his, time seemed to go slowly so there was no telling how long everyone had been waiting in there. He buried his head in his knees, he felt exhausted.

Ingrid sat next to Bertrand; he even seemed to be anxious about seeing how this turned out. The Count kept hovering back and forth behind the only intact sofa they'd placed Erin carefully on.

Renfield was changing Erin's bandages once again, there was no sign that her healing had accelerated, if it had it would have meant that the bite was prevailing inside her body. They only hoped the bite would win the fight with her blood to convert her quickly.

Jonno and Mina watched with curiosity at the process that was happening and the effects it was having on the vampires in the room. While it would be useful for future knowledge they didn't think it was right to note it down as it was such a personal thing for them all.

Robin had been glancing back at Vlad constantly ever since this ordeal had begun. Vlad had noticed and had ignored them, his eyes constantly fixed on Erin. He couldn't tell if his bite was even working on her.

"I'm sorry Vlad…" Robin began to apologise to him.

Vlad's eyes snapped around to his friend, anger clear for all to see. The thunder clapped and lightning flashed through the open shutters.

"Sorry won't fix this Robin." Vlad ground out. He stood stiffly, his lips curled in a sneer. "You had to make a joke didn't you? If I hadn't taken my eyes off her because of your stupid joke this wouldn't have happened. Andrew wouldn't have taken the chance to try and slay me!"

While Vlad spoke Robin began to cower backwards. Vlad wasn't sure whether he would be able to forgive Robin for this. He'd given Andrew the opportunity.

Worse of all Vlad didn't know if he could forgive himself, he knew what Robin was like but he'd let his comment get to him and that had nearly (it still might) killed Erin. He'd failed in his promise to protect her.

"I didn't know…"

"That's the problem Robin, YOU NEVER THINK!" Vlad roared loudly at him. "I'm supposed to protect her not the other way around."

He was supposed to have sent the stake and deal with it not Erin. Robin had uttered an ill timed and inappropriate joke about Erin being an awesome half fang and sinking her teeth into people in front of slayers who hated vampires and the Truce.

"I've just had to watch Erin being staked, I've broken her collar bone trying to hold her down, I felt it break under my fingers, Bertrand's had to physically pull out splinters from inside her so I can transform her before she's even ready to become a half fang. All because you had to make a joke about Erin becoming vampire!" He yelled loudly.

Every slayer and vampire in the room watched the outburst; they were surprised it hadn't come earlier. They'd been expecting it. Vlad didn't lose his temper as quickly as other people but when he did it was a fearsome sight; only Erin could weather his temper completely unscathed.

Everyone tensed as the mahogany table, regency chairs and every other item in the room began to shake and vibrate as if in an earthquake in response to Vlad's feelings.

"WHAT WE'VE JUST DONE, WHAT I'VE JUST DONE WILL NEVER GO AWAY!" He'd gone back to shouting again, "I HAVE TO LIVE WITH IT FOR THE REST OF MY UNLIFE!"

Ingrid grabbed Vlad's shoulder, physically manhandling him like she used to do when he was thirteen. With some effort she pushed him towards the doors, she hadn't realised how much muscle Vlad had gained in four years.

"Get cleaned up." Ingrid told him softly. Vlad still looked a mess caked in Erin's blood.

Vlad glanced back at Erin, "I'll look after her, I promise." This wasn't like last time when she'd lied when she'd said she'd save her, she truly meant it.

Vlad nodded reluctantly before vanishing from the room.

"Thanks Ingrid." Robin smiled at her.

"I didn't do it for you." She told him firmly, she didn't do anything for breathers. Erin's transformation clearly wasn't an immediate process. If she died, Vlad would be unstoppable. He'd let grief consume him. "I'd hope she pulls through if I were you because at the moment Robin she's the only person who can rein Vlad in when he goes too far."

They all knew it was Erin that had managed to talk sense into him when he'd let his reflection get the better of him and Erin was the one who'd gotten him to see sense when she'd assembled an army to slay him.

"I didn't know they'd…"

Ingrid cut him off with a wave of her hand. "Like Vlad said Robin, you never think."

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Vlad peeled of the shirt that clung to him due to Erin's dried blood. He held it for a moment; he could smell the sweet, innocent scent of her blood. He bundled the shirt up and threw it across the room as far away from him as possible. He didn't want to look at it again.

He sped across to the wardrobe and pulled out a clean shirt and jeans, he wouldn't be long he wanted to be back at her side.

He looked down at his chest; her blood had dried on him turning the pale skin crimson red. He lifted a hand to touch the blood but found he couldn't. His hand hovering a mere inch from his flesh, the sight of it made him feel sick. He had to get it off him as soon as possible.

Vlad sped towards the bathroom, and turned on the showed. Without a second though he stepped inside and scrubbed with shaking fingers at the blood that coated him. He screwed up his eyes as the sight of the red water grew too much for him.

He continued to scrub trying to get even the feeling of her blood on his skin from him until his flesh began to burn from his actions.

Vlad hit the wall feeling the tiles of the shower crumble under his fist. The water mingled with the droplets of salty tears that leaked down his face.

He scrubbed at his face, feeling the way his eyes had swelled. He reached up at turned off the shower, twisting the dial until the water stopped completely.

He climbed out and dressed as quickly as he could before leaning over the sink and washing his face in cold water to try and remove the puffiness of his eyes.

With a sigh he dried his face and sped off towards Erin. He couldn't leave her any longer.

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Vlad's ears picked up at the sudden change in breathing of his fiancée, his sensitive hearing detecting the change first. A sudden rush of movement followed from around him and he knew the others had heard exactly.

Erin's breathing slowed to ratting, shaky breaths until it stopped completely. She didn't move a fraction of an inch. She just lay there motionless.

The question they all had circling in their heads didn't have a clear answer.

There was no way to know for certain.

Was she a vampire or was she truly dead?

TBC

_A/N: What do you think?_

_Thanks for reading._


	3. Crack

_A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1._

_I really hope the first two chapters didn't disappoint._

_Sorry its late I got confused by the way they'd changed the 'manage stories' section._

Chapter 3: Crack

Vlad slowly moved turned and stood looking directly at Erin, he peered at her closely. He gently lifted a hand to her chest it didn't move even a fraction of an inch. Her heart definitely wasn't beating and her skin was cold to the touch.

She should have woken by now. He traced her cheek with his fingers. She looked so peaceful even coated in as much blood as she was. His fingers trembled as he brushed against the cold flesh of her cheek. Vlad kissed her forehead before pressing their foreheads together.

He wept quietly over her, his face buried in her silken hair; he couldn't believe she was gone. He reached up and clenched his ring that still rested around her neck. Pulling back slowly once he felt the cold metal in the palm of his hand he cleaned it with his shirt. He kissed the ring before placing it back on her chest; he lifted it up as he folded her arms over her chest before resting the ring on her hands.

He turned to look at Ingrid who shrugged slightly, she couldn't tell either. This was a long shot to start with. Ingrid wanted to be optimistic for him, "Vlad it might be just delayed…"

"She would be awake by now." He punctuated each word with a shake of his fists as they were by his side. "There's nothing inbetween death and the bite. Its either one or the other."

In his mind there was no doubt that Erin was dead. He'd lost the only woman he'd ever loved.

Ingrid wasn't as convinced Erin was dead, as Vlad seemed to be. Ingrid looked at her; something about her didn't ring of death. Her limbs didn't look as stiff as they should be, although she doubted Vlad would let her get close enough to find out completely.

"I'm so sorry Vlad…" Robin began quietly, apologising once more. He couldn't convey how sorry he was for Vlad's loss. He knew the importance of finding someone when Vlad was so young, vampires usually only had one mate. Erin was supposed to be Vlad's future mate.

A hiss and a spit was heard from three different directions and he quietened immediately. He looked at Jonno who was shaking his head in disbelief; he was just as annoyed as the others.

Robin wanted to protest his innocence though, "Andrew threw the stake not me, he's the one who…"

"You gave him the distraction he needed!" Bertrand snapped at him. Andrew might have thrown the stake but Robin was the one who distracted Vlad allowing Andrew to throw the stake in the first place. "Erin would never have been injured if you hadn't distracted him."

Ingrid shook her head she always knew undoing the mind wipe wasn't Vlad's wisest move.

Vlad wouldn't forgive himself for allowing himself to be distracted by Robin. He knew Robin well enough to know what he was like; she just wished Robin had considered the situation before adding fuel to the fire that wouldn't ebb.

"I didn't know what would happen…" Robin was pushing him and sooner or later Vlad would crack. When (there was no if about it) he cracked no one would be able to stop him.

"But you knew that the situation was delicate." Bertrand snapped at him, any wrong moves could have had them all turning to dust. Instead it had cost them Erin's life.

Bertrand placed a hand on his shoulder but Vlad shrugged it off, "You knew it might not work." There was no guarantee it would happen immediately. Ryan's had taken months.

"Vlad you have to…"

"Back off breather!" Vlad hissed at Robin, forcing Robin to jump back out of his way. Vlad gnashed his fangs in a threatening manner. He stared at him daring him to push him anymore. He would retaliate as his lip curled upwards revealing more snowy white teeth.

Vlad had officially cracked.

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Vlad hunched over, that was never a good sign. The slayers watched as the vampires seemed to take a giant step backwards in sync with each other.

"Erin is dead because of your culture." Vlad spat at Jonno angrily, this whole forced marriage had introduced Andrew Hartleigh to her. Vlad spun to her family, "You killed her, I hope you can live with that because I have to for the rest of my unlife. Now was getting her slayers license back worth it?"

All this was over a piece of paper and something that had happened well over a century ago.

Thomas folded his arms; this could come back around in full circle to the vampire. "She chose to live with you."

Ingrid answered before Vlad could, she only hoped he didn't trace it back around to her. She'd been at the end of his anger once; she didn't want to relive it. "To save your son."

"She told you straight away she was a slayer I suppose." Thomas told him, that was the only way the vampire would accept her.

"No, when I found out I kicked her out but I wanted her back the moment I did it. I couldn't stand being away from her. I didn't care that we were from two different cultures just that I loved her." Vlad's voice dropped, "I know it was forbidden but we didn't care we wanted to be together. You couldn't see that."

"Erin should have taken her destiny more seriously…"

"Her destiny wasn't to get staked as a breather was it? It was supposed to be being bitten by a vampire. I did that so you should be happy at least she died the way you wanted her too."

Steph let out a choked sob at Vlad's words, she'd never thought about it until Vlad had said it and she knew every single word was true. What kind of parents planned their daughter's death? Even vampires didn't do that, only murderers did.

Vlad was saying things now that he couldn't take back.

"Vlad!" Ingrid snapped at him, he was going too far. He was grieving but she had to stop him.

Vlad's head whipped around to face her; she had no business interrupting him. She couldn't control him he was the future Grand High Vampire. "Flap off out of this Ingrid, after all you only had a crush on Will. It wasn't love, you've moved onto your next victim." Vlad pointedly looked at Bertrand.

"That was out of line Vlad!" Bertrand snapped at him seeing the way Ingrid retreated towards her father. Ingrid shook her head slightly as the raw wound flared up in her and her eyes glazed.

The Count gave his daughter a concerned look, the only emotion he'd truly displayed towards her.

Vlad looked at Jonno, eyeing the stake that was in his flak vest. "The Truce is over."

"He doesn't mean it!" Ingrid told Jonno firmly, right now they couldn't deal with a slayer attack. Jonno nodded understanding completely.

Vlad let out a fierce growl making everyone jump, he didn't like this they were overriding him. They couldn't do this, not when he wanted them to… an idea came to him, a slight smirk crossing his handsome features.

He turned towards the door, strolling out of it slowly.

"Where are you going?" The Count asked his son.

"We have a school of breathers don't we? About time I bit one of them." He snapped before speeding off and vanishing.

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Nothing moved in the room for a few minutes after Vlad had vanished as they all tried to assimilate what had just happened.

The Nobles hadn't realised how powerful Vlad was especially if everyone was cowering away from him in pure fear of what he could do. Chloe saw what Vlad was capable of, his demonstration of power and hostility had frightened her. The Hartleighs hadn't realised what they'd done until that moment.

Jonno stood slowly; he really didn't want to do this. He glanced across to his mother, this wasn't going to be like hunting a normal vampire, grief had pushed Vlad to this.

"We'll go after him." Jonno offered, grabbing his equipment. They could subdue him without hurting him. They were the only ones with the tools to do the job.

Bertrand moved forward, the floor squeaking under his weight, his arms folded but his left arm was propped under his chin. "You'll never survive." Bertrand told them gently, it wasn't a threat it was a statement.

Jonno knew he couldn't leave Vlad to drain innocent breathers.

"He won't harm a breather," The Count spoke before realising the state his favourite child was in, "Will he?" He was terrified of his son actually biting someone, as he knew the consequences for Vlad's actions – slaying.

Bertrand was thinking along the same lines as Ingrid as their eyes met as a chilling realisation flooded them.

"He wants to be slain." Ingrid realised, her throat clenching slightly at the devastation her brother was in. She didn't think Vlad would go this far.

Her stomach clenched at the thought of Vlad being this desperate to escape this unlife at losing her. He really didn't want to continue without her; it was really turning out to Romeo and Juliet in some sick and twisted way. What would happen to their kind without him to rule over them?

She knew what it was like to lose someone you loved; she was probably the only person who understood. Yes Vlad had hurt her but there was some truth in his words, the normal Vlad would never have said those things even if he were thinking them.

"I don't get it." Robin spoke, Vlad always wanted to be friends with slayers he'd never want to be slain by one.

"You didn't see him when he thought he'd lost her last time." Ingrid told him, he hadn't seen the huddled shaking mass that Vlad had been when he'd made a bargain with the devil – or Chloe – to save her. "There was some hope though last time…" She trailed off looking at Bertrand.

"Vlad would give his unlife for her, she's just given her life to save him. Vlad's immortal." Ingrid paused, she should've seen this coming, "He'll have to live forever without her. He wants to avoid it." The oblivion of staking offered him a way out.

"We need to stop him."

"How?" That was an obvious question.

A scream filled the air, echoing around the courtyard and bouncing off the glass, almost loud enough to shatter it.

Fear gripped them all.

That scream wasn't because of something Vlad had done…

Was it?

TBC

_A/N: Thanks for reading._


	4. Acting This Way

_A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1._

_Daft question: Would you like me to 'formalise' Vlad and Erin's relationship in this fic or the next?_

Chapter 4: Acting This Way

It was about time someone paid for what had happened.

Erin was dead, not vampire dead but dead as in no longer existing. All because of a joke and her parents.

Everything Vlad and Erin had been put through meant nothing to him now as he stalked down the corridors looking for his prey.

Vlad closed his eyes breathing in the delicious aroma of breathers. The milled about him, pushing into him and past him. He didn't care about that though, the contact made his anticipation deepen.

He was looking for one person in particular, one person who'd upset Erin deeply. He'd do this for Erin, in Erin's memory.

Vlad smirked as he eyed Becky up down the corridor. Just the person he wanted to see. He couldn't believe his luck.

The dark haired beauty saw him and immediately waved him over to her, taking his chance Vlad sauntered across to her. He slipped on his most charming smile, his head lowering slightly as he looked at her through his eyelids.

Becky's heart stopped at the sight of him, she'd never seen him out of school uniform before. She could see why Erin was attracted to him. There was something dangerous about him that made him that much more appealing to any girl. Vlad was the heartthrob of the school but he didn't seem to notice anyone other than Erin. They all wondered what Erin had that they didn't, but she did live with them so she probably saw the sides of him no one else did.

She had to admit she was hurt when he'd rejected her, but she was going to be cautious this time. "Have you and Erin had a fight?" He'd only acted like this when they'd fought last time and she didn't really appreciate being used as a tool to get back at her.

"Erin's moved on." It's all he could say, she had moved on to a better place that he could never be a part of. There was no heaven for vampires only oblivion no matter how much he wished otherwise.

Becky's eyebrows rose in pure delight missing the true meaning of Vlad's statement and she grinned, "Oh!" Vlad clenched his jaw at her too cheerful tone; he forced his jaw to relax before she noticed. He smiled but it looked more feral than anything else.

Becky fluttered her eyelashes briefly before looking at him shyly; it always seemed to get her the boys before. Vlad had always seemed immune for the last four years; perhaps it would work with him on the rebound. "So what do you want?" Becky asked him.

"I wanted to show you something." He grinned at her widely, walking her along the corridor (not touching her though) before pushing her inside the science lab.

Becky dumped her bag on the table before fixing her hair in the poor reflection that the panes of glass that the windows offered. She would never see his reflection even if he had on it was that poor.

Vlad smirked as he closed the door quietly, he didn't care about checking the corridor at all. This would all be over before anyone could stop him.

He clicked his fingers and every single blind lowered into the room. Becky jumped as they nearly hit her as they shot shut. She spun to face Vlad, anticipation throbbing in her chest as she looked at him closing the door.

Vlad turned to face her, slowly extending his fangs enjoying the way they naturally protruded.

A few moments passed in silence, Becky didn't notice anything at first as she looked at him through her rose tinted glasses.

Once the view sank in Becky screamed.

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The scream seemed to echo for hours, everyone in the room shared a panicked look with each other.

They needed a miracle now. As if someone was listening, one happened.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ingrid saw a motion on the sofa. It was the smallest of twitches but it was movement regardless. Erin's fingers twitched just slightly, a breather wouldn't have noticed it but a vampires extra sensitive senses would.

The motion on the sofa made Ingrid smile, relief flooding her.

Slowly the twitching spread as Erin's hand clenched and unclenched before her eyes snapped open.

Erin's eyes were different as they opened. They turned the darkest black before returning to their usual colour.

Bertrand glanced back at the Count; he'd never seen a half fang's eyes turn black before. The sight unsettled him.

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Erin felt strange; you never really noticed your heart beating in your chest unless you concentrated but right now it was a peculiar sensation with it not beating at all.

Everything seemed that much sharper, she could hear the conversations in the courtyard from what she assumed were arriving students as if she were standing right next to them. Her eyes could see the cracks in the beams with more clarity in the darkened room. For the first time she knew how vampires could identify slayers as she sensed the vile scent that invaded her nostrils.

Her fangs didn't extend once though, when a vampire was transformed they always extended automatically but hers remained fixed in place.

Erin glanced around the room, hurt filling her as she realised someone was missing, "Where's Vlad?" She would've thought he'd be with her when she woke.

Did he really resent her becoming one of them so much?

"He thought you were dead." Ingrid told her quietly. That was obviously the last thing Erin expected. She had no awareness of anything until a few moments ago.

Erin shot up and she immediately winced as she felt a pain across her stomach. She looked down at the tattered remains and everything suddenly flooded back to her. She yanked up the shirt with her right arm, the wound was knitting together slowly but it would take a while to heal.

The bite had done its job and converted her but healing her wounds would still take a few weeks.

Renfield must have put stitches in her by the looks of the thick black lines. They would leave a scar, vampire or not.

Erin moved her left arm forward before crying out as pain shot through her shoulder up to her neck, spiking along her back and chest. She didn't know what this pain was. She didn't remember the cause of it at all.

She looked at Ingrid completely confused by the sensations she was feeling. "It happened while we tried to restrain you." Erin slowly nodded, she know how fragile human bones were under a vampire's touch.

"Where's Vlad?" Erin repeated again, if he thought she was dead he could be anywhere. Then she noticed the sunlight peeking in through the edges of the curtains, she was right she had heard students.

Ingrid's answer was vague at best. "In the school somewhere."

"You need to stop him." Ingrid told Erin firmly, giving her a slight push. Erin looked at her confused, what was Vlad up to? "Before he goes too far."

If Vlad went too far the slayers would have no other choice but to slay him. The Truce would be at an end. Ingrid wasn't a fan of it but

Erin's blue eyes glanced across to her parents and her face-hardened, twisting her beauty into something terrible and fearsome. The compassion that had been in her eyes immediately vanished replaced by something far more chilling.

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Vlad tipped his head, blocking out the sound of her scream. He knew he'd have to be fast now; she'd probably let his whole family know what he was up to. He could still have a little fun though taunting her.

Becky tried to put as much distance between them as possible, adding a few tables into the mix. "What… what are you?"

"You really are as thick as you look." Vlad grinned at her; he was going to enjoy this. She didn't have garlic in her system like last time. Erin… he changed his line of thought quickly. Vlad tapped his fangs with his fingers, "Think about it, I have fangs, you always see me drinking 'tomato' juice at lunch, I'm excused from home economics because I'm 'allergic' to garlic and I never do outdoor PE."

Becky's eyes widened further, "Vampire." Vlad clapped mockingly letting out a laugh. Becky glanced around desperate to find an escape, "Why Vlad?"

Vlad's expression suddenly changed, pain and grief covering it before returning back to his cold expression. "I need you for something."

"Can't you feed another way?" She was thinking of Twilight.

"I can but that won't get me what I want." He smiled at her. He could hypnotise her that would make her easier to bite, but where was the fun in that?

"What do you want?" Becky was petrified of his answer, even though she had a good idea of what it was.

Vlad sped directly in front of her, making her jump, she tried to move but she had nowhere to go. Vlad opened his mouth, his voice dropping lowly. Its softness surprised her almost as if he was grateful for this. "Just know you're helping me."

Vlad grabbed Becky, yanking her head excruciatingly to one side from behind. He sniffed her neck. She stank of the cheap perfume that teenagers splashed all over themselves that made you gag when you stood behind them in a queue.

He drew his head back preparing to plunge his fangs into her neck.

Becky let out a shriek.

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Erin sped into the small room, for the first time she didn't feel any form of motion sickness. It was strange moving that fast without any after effects. She was faster than Ingrid; she would have thought Ingrid would beat her having more experience as a vampire.

Vlad seemed oblivious to her; he was too fixed on his prey just like last time. She smiled as she saw him, love filling her at the sight of him. Her feeling hadn't changed, no bite could ever do that to her.

The rest of the vampires followed her, surprised at her speed for someone who'd just transformed.

Ingrid looked around the room seeing the way Vlad held Becky. "You need to stop him before he bites her."

Ingrid never thought she'd have to stop her brother from biting anyone.

Erin looked at them all before glancing back to Vlad, "She deserves it." Erin tipped her head. She tried to shrug but gritted her teeth as her collarbone burned. They deserved it in her mind; Vlad was taking his rightful revenge. Her heart was full of bitterness in that moment but she didn't know why; it wasn't aimed at Vlad though.

Vlad was entitled to bite who ever he wanted – as long as he left some for her. The slayers and the Truce be damned.

The Draculas looked around at each other, this wasn't like Erin. Usually she'd chase after him and stop him, they could see in her eyes that she still loved him. Erin had never before sat and let Vlad get his own way if it meant a breather would be harmed.

Erin wasn't loyal to Vlad through his bite; there were no signs of it. She couldn't be loyal as love was the ultimate form of loyalty freely given and it couldn't be overridden by a bite. Erin didn't want him slain either judging by the fierce affection for him in her eyes.

Ingrid looked at her father and Bertrand terror gripping her stomach for the second time in twenty minutes. Erin was the only one who could stop Vlad from biting the breather, but at the moment she didn't care about Becky – they had a history there, Ingrid wasn't quite sure what it was either but she knew it involved Vlad.

Why was Erin acting this way?

A light bulb came on in her head. Actually, there was a reason.

One that none of them had actually considered…

One that only Vlad could sort out…

TBC

_A/N: What do you think?_

_Would you like me to 'formalise' Vlad and Erin's relationship in this fic or the next?_

_Thanks for reading._


	5. Reason

_A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1._

Chapter 5: Reason

The reason for Erin's behaviour should have been obvious at the time but they hadn't bothered to consider it. The main focus was on saving her life.

Being bitten was almost the same as the process that occurred when a vampire merged with their reflection. Transforming into a vampire allowed all the emotions that had been bottled up for years to be released and respond to them no matter how devastating their actions could be.

Erin had been emotionally charged when she'd been attacked. Everything her parents had done to her at the forefront of her mind. The bite had latched onto that, turning her anger, her resentment and her bitterness at them, multiplying it and rebelling in the ultimate way against them – becoming the vampire they hated so much. Her emotions were highly charged.

Only Vlad would be able to sort her out, she would listen to Vlad and Vlad had the power to set her straight – she wouldn't harm him, she would never want to.

At the moment nothing could be done if Vlad took that extra step. They needed to deal with that first then why Erin was acting the way she was.

Ingrid clicked her fingers as quickly as she could, freezing Becky. Vlad let out a growl as he realised what had happened.

Bertrand sped across the room and physically ripped Vlad from Becky before he could bite her. He dragged Vlad back a few paces well away from the breather girl.

Vlad struggled but the way Bertrand gripped his arms ensured that Vlad couldn't escape; he knew how to handle vampires.

Erin went to shoot forward but Ingrid held a hand out to her stopping her from moving. Erin felt a flash of anger at them stopping Vlad biting Becky. They had no right to stop him.

"What do you think you are doing?" Vlad shouted at them, he wanted this. They had no right to stop him.

Bertrand continued to manhandle him spinning him around to the doorway. Vlad's face relaxed suddenly.

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Vlad looked at the bloodied sight before him. Bertrand's grip on him loosened as he felt Vlad's muscles relax, as he was no longer struggling against him. Very slowly and cautiously Bertrand took a step back from Vlad.

Vlad felt the red mist vanishing from him completely.

Vlad sped until he stood in front of Erin, she smiled up at him. He looked into her eyes, unsure whether she was really there or not. He needed to know for certain. Vlad lifted his hand; hesitating a few times knowing he wouldn't be able to cope if it turned out she was a hallucination. He touched her cool skin and brushed her cheek with the back of his hand. Erin leaned into his touch her eyes closing slightly.

He breathed in her scent, it hadn't changed but he could smell her more prominently than before. He immediately felt more at peace from that small feature.

He let out a small laugh at her being in front of him and being undead. He pulled her tightly to him; Erin grasped the material of his shirt below his neck with her right hand, burying her head in the hollow between his neck and shoulder.

"They both ended up dead." Vlad whispered to himself remembering the conversation about Romeo and Juliet he had with the Count. They had both ended up dead in the sense they'd become vampires, but not in the sense of permanently dead thankfully. Ingrid had been right; it had been a delayed reaction.

Erin's head tipped slightly in confusion as she pulled back slightly. "What?"

Vlad shook his head with a half smile. "Nothing." He pressed his head against hers, "I thought I'd lost you." His voice was quiet with relief.

"I'm not going anywhere." Erin answered, her throat clenched. She'd survived what no other breather could, to be with him. She wasn't going to leave him without a fight.

"Love you." He told her, overjoyed that he could still say the words to her.

"Love you too."

Vlad looked back at Becky, still standing frozen. His eyes widened at the thought of what he'd almost done, guilt filled him before panic set in as he realised he'd revealed what he was to her.

"Deal with her." Ingrid told him firmly.

Vlad rolled his eyes. "I'll wipe…"

"Not her," She gestured a hand towards Becky, "Erin."

"Why?" Vlad couldn't understand what Ingrid meant.

Ingrid's next bombshell floored him. "She agreed with you biting her."

Vlad looked at Erin in shock. Erin looked away, her eyes blackening as she spoke. "She deserves it." What Becky had done to her still stung, the fact she'd played the supportive friend then stabbed her in the back where Vlad was concerned was something that plagued her.

Erin wasn't allowed to have boyfriends when she was growing up, she became terrified to anyway because of what happened to all female slayers at twenty-one. In fact she'd never even had a friend before. Erin only had acquaintances at the academy.

Becky's betrayal had cut her deeply.

"This isn't you Erin, fight it." Ingrid told her quietly. Vlad looked stricken, he didn't think she'd change at all. He gave his sister a questioning look, hoping she had an answer. "The bite."

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Erin seemed confused she didn't understand what they meant when they said 'the bite'. She looked at Vlad waiting for an answer.

"Fight what?" There was no answer; the others seemed to share knowing looks though. "Are you going to tell me what the secret is?" Erin felt a wave of irritation filling her, "Or are you going to hid things from me like my parents?" She snarled at them as hurt washed over her.

Vlad wasn't as startled by her reaction this time, especially when her face softened as she looked at him. Vlad ran a hand through his hair. "The bite's tapped into emotions you've kept buried. You need to focus on controlling yourself to stop you from doing something you regret."

Erin shook her head, she didn't believe him. She felt fine. "I'm fine Vlad."

"You're temper spikes, just like mine does but I can control it. You can't yet. It's instinctive, you want to hurt them before they hurt you." There was no way to deal with it until after something happened. He could only deal with his after nearly killing his family. It was one of the reasons he'd told her to leave when he found out she was a slayer. He'd wanted to protect her from that part of him.

Erin concentrated; she could slowly feel the guilt filling here at wanting Becky to be bitten out of revenge for her trying to take Vlad from her. "Will it go away?" She looked across to Becky.

Vlad shook his head, it would never go away but it could be controlled. Erin looked at Ingrid and Bertrand noticing for the first time the safe distance they were away from her.

"It can be controlled but it's hard." Erin nodded slowly. "We'll have to keep you away from very emotional situations."

Ingrid laughed before quietening as Bertrand scowled, she was right in her scoffing though at the moment it was impossible with her parents around.

He lifted his hand to her healing scar, "We didn't think about it when we changed you."

Erin touched his cheek, "It happened Vlad, you can't change it. I'm here because you bit me."

"It shouldn't have had to yet." Vlad answered sadly.

Vlad lifted up her bloodied shirt, looking at the wound on her stomach. It was angry and still red. They'd just need to take care that she didn't get an infection just in case she hadn't fully converted to being a vampire yet. Her body might still be fighting her bite for weeks to come even though she'd developed the traits of a vampire.

"And you shouldn't have put yourself in front of the stake for me."

Vlad lowered it back down as Erin spoke. "I couldn't let them slay you."

"You shouldn't have done it." He repeated, this time firmly. Guilt was welling up in him. "I should have seen it and stopped it, instead I was too angry with Robin. I've never been so scared, I nearly lost you. I can't rule over my kind without you. I just tried to get myself slain so I wouldn't have to."

It was very Romeo and Juliet he realised; he'd never hated that play as much as he did now.

"I wanted to do it Vlad, I didn't think I'd end up with it buried in my stomach. I just wanted to save you."

"You'll have a scar." He whispered, looking at the wound through the thick material of her blood covered shirt. It wouldn't be a small scar either.

"I don't care," The scar meant nothing if it showed that she was willing to sacrifice herself to save him, it proved how much she loved him.

"What about your collar bone?" He asked her, "I broke it." It took courage to admit that.

"You broke it?" She asked him quietly, she knew it had been broken when they'd held her down but she hadn't been told that it was Vlad who'd broken it. Vlad nodded unable to speak. He could feel the brittleness of her bone as it broke under his touch. He closed his eyes expecting her anger to spike. "You didn't do it on purpose."

"What?"

Erin changed her statement slightly, but the emphasis was clear, she didn't blame him. "It doesn't matter Vlad."

"'It doesn't matter'," He repeated, "How can you say that?" His hands balled into fists tugging on his jeans.

Erin folder her arms, wincing at the pain that followed in her shoulder. "What do you want me to say Vlad?" Erin asked him, this time she as letting her emotions control her. "That I hate you? That I never want to see you again? That I wish I was dead? This is all your fault? You didn't do any of this on purpose. A broken collarbone is nothing; it'll be healed inside a week or two. Its not permanent."

Erin still didn't get what he was trying to say, this was all his fault. "If I hadn't been distracted…"

Erin cut him off straight away. "I'd have to become a vampire sooner or later Vlad. Accept it."

"Get changed Erin." Vlad snapped at her, finishing the conversation, seeing her in the dirtied shirt only fuelled his anger at the moment.

"You're sending me to my room?" She asked her arms folded over her chest, he was being childish now. He didn't exactly say it but it was implied.

"You're getting angry." He answered flatly, it was a weak excuse but he needed to calm down too. "So get changed and think it through." He repeated. "Now."

Erin ground her teeth together but nodded stiffly. In a flash she'd vanished from the room.

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Bertrand shook his head at Vlad, he couldn't understand how the situation had changed so quickly from him being overjoyed to them snapping at each other.

Vlad pointed at both of them in turn, "Don't say a thing."

Bertrand needed to say it though, for the first time he was going to be defending Erin, "She can't help it Vlad. She needs to adjust to being one of us, it won't happen in a matter of hours, you feeling guilty won't help her at all either."

Thunder crackled as Vlad's head lowered, "Don't think you can tell me…"

Bertrand continued, he was on a roll this needed to be said and he was going to say it regardless of Vlad having banned him from speaking his mind before this whole thing began. "You would have done the same thing if she was the vampire Vlad, you've always wanted to save each other. You nearly killed yourself to save her when Ingrid locked her out on the balcony."

Vlad folded his arms and glared at him, seeing straight through him.

"I didn't lock her out there!" Ingrid automatically protested, that was the one time she'd been completely innocent.

Vlad looked at her, he knew the truth now. "I know it wasn't you." Bertrand still couldn't stop trying to pass the blame now, although he suspected it was through fighting to survive in the vampire wars.

Bertrand and Vlad stared at each other for a few minutes, each waiting for the other to back down. Neither did.

Ingrid hated seeing this kind of 'macho' competition, she was going to change the subject to put an end to it. "Vlad…" Ingrid drew out, looking across the room reminding him of Becky.

Vlad sighed, he'd forgotten about Becky, he needed to deal with it. With a lazy arm in the air he clicked his fingers.

It was funny the way breathers always shook their heads in confusion before spinning around at a speed that nearly made them fall over.

Becky stiffly stepped back trying to get out of the way of Vlad, Ingrid and Bertrand.

"Look into my eyes Becky." Vlad commanded, Becky shook her head. Her eyes not meeting his once.

Seeing her chance she bolted towards the doors, vanishing through them before Vlad could stop her.

TBC

_A/N: Thanks for reading._


	6. Culture Gaps

A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1.

I'd like your opinion: someone asked me if Erin could become pregnant. Would anyone else like to see it?

_I won't be offended if you don't want it._

Chapter 6: Culture Gaps

Vlad chased after Becky, following her closely down the corridor.

He could catch her easily.

Then as fate would have it the school bell rang, immediately the corridors filled with students. Vlad lost Becky's scent; he wouldn't be able to find her with all of these breathers mingling about. He let out a low growl.

Ingrid appeared behind him, looking around trying to find Becky, she couldn't smell her either.

The clicking of heels made them wince and freeze just as they were about to speed off to find her. In sync they turned around matching expressions of dread on their face as they faced the school head teacher.

"You should both be in class." Miss McCauley glared at them doing her best headmistress stare. "And in school uniform. Get changed, now." Her voice left no room for discussion and the pair nodded.

Vlad glanced at Bertrand who was at the end of the corridor, he nodded understanding Vlad's silent request, he'd keep up the search.

They couldn't let her wander around with knowledge of who they were.

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Ingrid sat herself down in the throne room, she didn't care about Miss McCauley the Count wouldn't tell her off. No breather was in charge of her.

"Where's Erin?" Steph asked, she wanted to talk to her daughter the moment she saw Vlad enter. The vampire in front of her had saved her daughter so she felt gratitude towards him.

Vlad needed to do something before he even considered getting changed, that's what had brought him to the throne room.

"Recovering." Vlad answered. "She needs to rest." He wasn't going to tell them that he'd sent her to get changed.

Vlad gingerly stood away from Jonno. This was what he needed to do. "I'm sorry." Vlad apologised, he needed to get everything back to how it was before. "I know the Truce is over but…"

Jonno moved closer to Vlad, "Ingrid sorted it out."

Vlad's head snapped to his sister, he didn't expect that. Ingrid just shrugged, "I'm number two remember." She grinned at him. Vlad was surprised that Ingrid had wanted to sort it out. Ingrid was the one who said that Vlad didn't mean it when he declared the Truce over and she'd took it upon herself to stop him before he broke it.

"Thanks." He told her sincerely.

"You weren't yourself Vlad," Mina nodded understandingly as she spoke, her time as a school councillor gave her some insight into this. She was glad to see Vlad much calmer than half an hour before.

"I'm sorry…"

Ingrid rolled her eyes, Vlad was going too far apologising again, "Stop apologising and get yourself sorted for school. You don't want detention do you?"

Vlad stalked towards the doors to the amusement of the slayers, "A month and a half Ingrid." He reminded her, that's all the time she had left to boss him about.

"I'd better make the most of it then." She called as he vanished from the room.

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Vlad had barely made it through his door when it was slammed shut and he found his back rammed up against it. Erin gave him a small smile, he hadn't expected to find her in here. He'd only come in to change into his uniform, he knew Miss McCauley would keep checking up on him so he needed to make an appearance in his design technology class.

Erin moulded herself to him and pressed her lips to his determinedly. Vlad was surprised, freezing slightly. Erin nipped his lips forcing him to open his mouth. Vlad responded automatically, pulling her close. He felt her smile before she moaned as their tongues brushed.

Erin suddenly pulled away grinning at his confusion at her ending the kiss abruptly before she shoved him backwards against the still closed coffin, not that he thought Erin noticed. His knees hit it and he ended up rolling off the curved surface taking her with him. He was careful enough not to land on her, taking the brunt of the impact although it felt like nothing.

Erin wasn't well enough to do this and now definitely wasn't the time.

"No." He told her firmly, she ignored him.

The newly bitten vampire grabbed Vlad's shirt and began to tear at it. The sleeve came away from the grey t-shirt and a long gash was torn into the collar.

"STOP IT!" Vlad shouted at her, pushing her back taking care not to touch her injured collarbone, grabbing her forearms and holding her back. She still struggled.

Vlad rolled them, so she was pinned underneath them and held her still, straddling her legs.

"ERIN, STOP IT NOW!" He bellowed again, this time he was getting angry with her. She looked up at him in shock, seeing the way his jaw had clenched.

Erin seemed to go limp but Vlad didn't let go in case it was an act. Her face screwed up and she looked away from him completely fixing her gaze on the coffin.

"I don't know…I'm…it…sorry." She finished lamely her voice cracking; she didn't know what was happening to her. She'd never had the confidence before.

Vlad let go of her, moving off her. Erin didn't move she just brought her hand to her face. She couldn't believe what she'd just done, or just almost done. Her shoulders began to shake but she didn't make a sound.

He stood before bending down and lifting her up smoothly, he carried her across to his couch setting her down on his lap, holding her tightly. "Hey…" He drew out as he rubbed her back up and down before making other soothing noises.

Erin relaxed slightly but she still didn't look at him, she couldn't look him in the eye she didn't want him to hate her for what she'd almost done.

Vlad looked at her, he wasn't berating her, "Why?" She'd never done it before and he doubted even with her emotions being highly charged she'd do this.

At the moment Miss McCauley be damned, his fiancée needed him.

Erin still didn't look at him. She'd responded to what she'd been taught at the academy. She opened her mouth her throat dry, she didn't want him to be angry with her. Erin knew she should have known better.

"I've always been told that I have to 'find a way'," He knew what she meant immediately and his eyes widened, in a mix of horror and embarrassment, "To apologise to husband if I upset them. I upset you. I know we're not mated but I thought as we…" She stopped, shame filling her eyes. The bite had given her the confidence she would have lacked as a mortal to follow it through.

Erin let out another sob as he pushed her off him, she was sure he was rejecting her. She buried her head in her hands. She'd ruined everything.

Vlad stood quickly, running a hand through his hair. He turned to face her before looking away again. He wasn't angry at her instead Vlad felt sick, he couldn't believe the academy had told her that – or should that be her parents. The only thing that made him feel a fraction better was the fact it wasn't their first time, but the way she had been told to 'offer' herself was still sickening.

He should have expected it; arranged marriages were always about pandering to the needs of the man in the marriage. Women were treated like dirt, even more so than in his culture. They really were only used to breed slayers.

Erin might have upset him but he'd upset her, he'd all but told her to go away while he sorted through everything that had happened.

Vlad realised he must have scared her with the way he reacted; he crouched down and pulled her hands from her face.

"I will never, *never* ask you to do that." He didn't expect anything from her, he considered himself lucky that she loved him. "What they told you is wrong, even vampire women aren't told that." He doubted it even crossed his culture's mind, also he didn't think it was every slayer that thought that way. "Erin, when we are together its because we both want it, just like last time, yeah?" Erin nodded, her tears dipping from her cheeks with the motion.

"I'm sorry." She hiccupped at him. "I'm an embarrassment to you."

Vlad shook his head, she couldn't think that. "You're not an embarrassment."

"I am." She answered, she was an embarrassment to him, something she always dreaded happening. "A normal half fang…"

"Other half fangs haven't gone through what your parents put you through." He told her quietly. "Being a vampire lets you release all the emotions that have been bottled up for years. Being bitten is almost the same process as merging with a reflection. You remember what happened to me." He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. "We'll deal with it together." He promised her. They always would.

He wished he'd accepted her help when he finally faced his reflection, he'd been an idiot not to. It would have made things much easier but at the time he'd been concerned with her safety near him after two (thankfully) failed bitings.

"How can you look at me?" She asked, "I nearly forced you to…" She closed her eyes and shuddered as she looked at his tattered shirt from where she'd clawed at it trying to pull it off him.

Vlad pressed a finger to her lips, cutting her off. "Because I love you."

Erin lifted her right arm and played with the soft cotton covering his chest, "Sorry about your shirt." She whispered to him. She'd forgotten her strength was increased as a vampire.

"You can buy me a new one." He teased making her smile. He didn't hold it against her. "Sorry about sending you to your room."

"You told me to get changed." She corrected him, she understood he'd done it to control his temper and hers.

He kissed her gently in an apology. "I shouldn't have done it. I'm just not used to someone looking out for me." He admitted to her, he'd always had to look out for his family and himself. "I just came so close to losing you forever that I was too angry to think anything through properly. I'm sorry."

Vlad knew his guilt wouldn't disappear over night, what had fuelled it was the fact she didn't blame him at all. It just made him feel worse.

Erin leaned her head again his shoulder, "Its okay. It'll take some getting used to." She whispered, it would be strange for both of them.

"I'll help you, I promise." Erin knew he would, he had before when he thought she was a half fang.

"You still want me to be your mate?" She asked him quietly; scared all this might have made him reconsider.

Vlad smiled at her, "Always. Just promise me one thing…"

Erin didn't move her head, "Hmmm?"

"You won't do anything like that again," He was asking her not to do anything she'd been pressured into because of her upbringing. He didn't need to say all that because she always knew what he meant.

He didn't realise how many culture gaps still existed between them but he didn't want to find out about another one this way again.

Erin smiled at his request, part of her relaxing that he only wanted her to be herself. Vlad felt her nod against his shoulder, "I promise.

Vlad smiled before kissing her hair lightly.

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Becky crept along the corridors, she didn't know where she was going, she just wanted a place to hide until the end of the school day where Vlad couldn't find her. She knew he'd search the school for her, she didn't know if he had x-ray vision or something else that might find her.

The young woman found herself in a part of the school she'd never been in before and she knew then that this was Vlad's living quarters. She didn't have a clue how to get out of there.

She heard a whooshing noise and Becky hid around the corner as she watched Vlad's sister and his strange tutor talking quietly. She hoped they didn't hear her. She closed her eyes and prayed, her heart racing in her chest.

She saw something out of the corner of her eye; she fully turned poking her head out as she chanced a look around the corner.

What she saw made her panic, her heart filling with pity.

Becky weighed up the options in her mind, before reaching a conclusion.

She'd do it.

TBC

_A/N: What do you think?_

_Would anyone else like to see Erin pregnant?_

_Thanks for reading._


	7. Rescue

_A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1._

_Obviously I can't fit everything into this part but hopefully everything should be included by the end of the final instalment of this trilogy._

Chapter 7: Rescue

Becky waited until Vlad's tutor had left the room, Ingrid seemed to follow him. They obviously had somewhere to be; she knew they were trying to find her.

As soon as the coast was clear she crept into the room. She gasped as she saw Jonno sitting in the corner; his back was to her though.

Nervously she grasped the nearby dusty, solid silver goblet that sat on top of the fireplace behind the door. Taking a deep breath she swung the heavy object around, it collided with Jonno's head with a resounding THUMP. He slumped down in the chair before sliding to the floor, completely unconscious.

Becky let out the breath she'd been holding in relief; she'd been scared stiff as she'd done that. She didn't know whether he was a vampire or not but seeing his face fully for the first time he seemed somehow familiar to her.

The Hartleighs and Nobles immediately looked up at her, they were surprised at her presence.

On tiptoes Becky ran across to them, pulling on the cable ties that held their wrists bound together. She undid George and Andrew's first.

"Can't let them get you." She told them quietly. She didn't have a clue what they were though. All she knew is that she had to save them from the bloodthirsty vampire's clutches.

They hadn't done anything wrong…

Only if she knew the truth.

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Andrew and George grinned at each other, rubbing their wrists. The ties hadn't been tight enough to rub their skin raw but their arms were aching from the position they had been tied in behind their backs.

The moment Chloe was freed she instantly ran to the Hartleighs, "Take me with you." She asked them, no begged them. Vlad was furious with her and her actions towards him. She knew she couldn't face her brother at the moment not after blackmailing his best friend. She needed them to hide her and keep her safe from the vampires.

"She might be useful." Andrew muttered to his father, the girl knew more about the Draculas than any of them did. If she wasn't useful they could just dispose of her.

"They'll be after me." Chloe begged, "Please you have to save me."

George didn't really want to take her with them but the blonde girl might know something. Still he couldn't leave her here with the Draculas his slayer instincts didn't allow it. He nodded and immediately Chloe ran to the door.

She had protection now until Vlad calmed down and saw the truth.

George spied something on the table, a discarded scroll. It wasn't an official scroll as such, at least nothing like the Ancient Romans had, it was more along the lines of a rolled up piece of paper. His curiosity was too great to be ignored. He grabbed it and pulled it to him.

He looked at it, a smile spreading across his face as he read each word as fast as he could.

This was just what he needed; George could use this to his advantage.

"DAD!" Andrew whispered harshly, looking towards him. Jonno was beginning to stir, his head lolled back and forth as he slowly returned to the land of the living.

George stuffed the scroll down his flak vest, he couldn't risk losing it.

He grabbed his stake, running towards his son.

Thomas grabbed Andrew tightly, yanking him forward. "You killed my daughter." He spat in his face, what he'd done was unforgivable.

Andrew tried to defend himself, "She pushed him out of the way…"

"You still put a stake in her stomach."

George grabbed Tom's hands and tried to pry them away from his son's vest. He was just as angry with the Nobles they'd dragged the Hartleigh family into their disgrace because they couldn't control their daughter.

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Thomas pressed a stake into his wife's hands, Steph looked down at it. She couldn't look at a stake the same way again, not after what had happened to their daughter.

It was easy to see who Erin had inherited most of her mannerisms from as Steph defied her husband. Her arms clearly folded over her chest. "You can go Thomas but I'm not leaving here."

"They'll drain you!" He hissed at her.

"They didn't touch Erin, so I'll take my chances." Steph told him angrily, "I'm not losing my daughter even though she's become one of them."

"She isn't the same…"

"We don't know that. We've never known Erin." She hadn't realised until the last couple of weeks how much she didn't know her daughter, "He didn't want to bite her Thomas!" Steph yelled at him, "He did it to save her."

"Its better to remember her as she was." It was the age-old line of the slayers.

"A daughter whose last words as a human told us she never wanted anything to do with us again?" Steph shook her head, she couldn't' live with that final conversation. "I'm not losing her because of you. I told you that contract was a bad idea, its about time we started putting things right. She's got a new future now and we don't have any say in it."

Becky ran over to them, "Come on," She hissed, "Before they come back." She darted back to the door before tripping over a fully conscious Jonno flying to the floor. She let out a girlish scream as she fell, splinters digging into her hands.

Becky flew back against the wall, scooting along on the floor to get there; she curled up terrified of what was going to happen.

Jonno stood slightly woozily, staggering, he reached out for the wall to steady himself. Becky wasn't proving t be a threat.

"INGRID! BERTRAND!" He bellowed.

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Almost immediately the pair whizzed into the room. Bertrand yanked Ingrid to him as Andrew threw a stake, he really was trying to slay the Draculas. His aim was deadly so she had Bertrand's quick reflexes to thank for her unlife.

Ingrid landed against his chest forcefully. Her arms automatically wrapping around him to steady herself from falling.

"Thanks." She whispered to the older vampire, everything in the room seemed to go quiet as she watched him. His eyes held concern; she'd never looked at his eyes before. He was so good at hiding things from everyone.

He nodded, his eyes fixed on hers. She gave him a small smile before looking away feeling uncomfortable with their closeness.

They had something to do.

Bertrand grabbed Steph's elbow yanking her towards him, his fangs lowered but not on display.

Bertrand looked at Steph, scrutinising her trying to decide what she was doing. Steph threw her stake away from her voluntarily trying to show him she wasn't going to attack him.

He looked around the room letting out a groan; in the confusion of pulling Ingrid out of the way it had given the Hartleighs the opportunity to escape. There was no way they could chase them with the students around. They'd have to deal with them later.

Ingrid sped in front of Tom looking him in the eyes. Ingrid took her eyes off the hypnotised Thomas Noble for the briefest of seconds to speak to Jonno, "Get Vlad."

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Vlad stood slowly pulling away from Erin. He hadn't noticed that she was wearing one of his t-shirts; he could understand why she'd done it. His t-shirts were much baggier and wouldn't tug at her shoulder or the stitches in her abdomen.

"You don't mind?" She asked suddenly afraid she'd crossed a boundary, tugging at the shirt lightly.

"Its fine Erin." He smiled at her, if it made her recovery easier then he wasn't going to complain.

Vlad pulled out his black school trousers from the cupboard, pulling his jeans off and yanking the official school trousers on before slipping his feet into his school shoes. He had to get ready for school; he wouldn't put it past Alex to check up on him.

Erin tipped her head watching him, "Does Miss McCauley know that I 'left' the school?" She asked him quietly.

"Dad told her you were in hospital," They didn't want her trying to contact her parents and berate them for taking Erin out of school without informing her, "We can say it was an operation." He suggested, "Appendices, or something like that."

Erin couldn't help the smile at him saying the word wrong. "Appendicitis." She corrected. Vlad shrugged slightly, it sounded almost the same. It was at times like this she remembered he wasn't a native of Britain. "Do you still speak Transylvanian?" She asked him, she'd never heard him speak it around his family. She didn't even know what it sounded like. She hadn't had the delicate hearing to hear what the cleaner had been singing.

"Yeah, just not so often." He missed it sometimes, a reminder of life before he was the Chosen One even though technically he'd always been the Chosen One. "I'll have to use it amongst the Council." He was dreading that, it wouldn't be all the time though.

"Would I have to speak it?" She asked him quietly, she struggled to learn other languages she could read the words unless it was on yellow paper.

Vlad tipped his head; the thought had never crossed his mind. "I don't know. I can translate for you." He promised her, Erin nodded.

Vlad walked over to his top shelf, reaching behind Mr Cuddles the Second he reached for a bottle.

Erin watched him curiously; she wondered what he could be hiding up there. Vlad gave her a small smile as he turned to face her, a bottle of soy blood in his hand.

Erin let out a small laugh at the effort he was taking to hide the soy blood, she could understand if his family didn't know he was drinking it but they all knew.

Vlad sensed her question and answered, "Sometimes my crates of soy blood get 'broken'." He explained. "I like to have spare bottles around the school where Renfield or Dad can't find them." Erin knew they didn't approve of him drinking it, she also knew they wouldn't touch Vlad's teddy bear if their survival depended on it so he had a safe hiding place. "Here." He handed it to her and she just looked at it.

"Do I need to lower my fangs?" She asked him quietly. She'd never really looked at his clan's mouths when they drank the blood and Vlad had never wanted to drink it around her.

Vlad shook his head with a smile, "Fangs are for piercing the throat to get at the blood, nothing more." Erin nodded, feeling relieved she wasn't sure how she felt about lowering her fangs around him yet. She knew Vlad kept them in check most of the time so not to scare her.

Vlad pulled off the cap for her, encouraging her to drink from it. Erin lifted the bottle to her lips and drank as she would with any other drink. She gulped it down quickly. It tasted much better now she was a half fang, Vlad had always given it to her before he found out she was a breather, after that it had been either grape juice or tomato juice instead.

"SLOWLY!" Vlad warned her suddenly, making her jump. Erin looked at him in confusion but she understood why, she immediately felt her stomach churn.

She looked at him in panic; he pulled the bottle from her grasp and set it down. Her skin had turned slightly black.

"You need to drink blood slowly." That was why vampires savoured it; they couldn't drink it quickly without the same effects. They had evolved that way so more nutrients could be absorbed into their bodies.

After a few moments Erin felt the nausea begin to ebb and Vlad encouraged her with his eyes to try again. This time she drank much slower as if she were savouring it this time. She took her mouth away from the top, waiting but this time no nausea came. She drank a little more of the blood.

Vlad didn't feel as disgusted as he thought he would seeing her drink it. Somehow watching her felt natural, it was strange.

"What?" She asked seeing his eyes on her.

"Nothing." He answered, his lips tugging upwards.

Jonno knocked on the door, completely out of breath; he looked at Vlad's shirt with suspicion. They seemed to notice his gaze fixing on that particular item of clothing. Vlad looked innocent while Erin looked guilty and he decided he really didn't want to know.

"Vlad, we've got a problem."

TBC

_A/N: Thanks for reading._


	8. Fatherly Affection

_A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1._

_I've started jotting down and interweaving ideas for the final instalment so everything should be in place ready to type…_

_So remember if you'd like to see anything else let me know so I can add it in._

Chapter 8: Fatherly Affection

Vlad slowly turned to face Jonno, reluctantly taking his eyes from Erin.

"I'll be there in a minute."

"Now Vlad!" Jonno pressed, leaving no room for discussion. For the first time they noticed the way Jonno was clutching the back of his head, cradling a cold compress.

Vlad nodded, he could see the urgency in Jonno's eyes. He sped across to his wardrobe and pulled out his yellow school shirt, he might as well attempt to look like he was trying to attend school if Miss McCauley asked.

Vlad looked at Erin who nodded, she could speed there.

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Bertrand was playing with the ties on the floor. Vlad groaned as he realised who the ties had belonged to in the first place. The stench of cheap perfume in the air made him feel sick immediately and he knew who it belonged to.

She didn't have a clue what she'd done did she? Becky had just released two slayers with a grudge against them and the Nobles back into the world.

Vlad entered the room to find the Nobles being cornered by Mina and Ingrid. Robin held a struggling Becky, forcing her back down into a chair. Vlad clicked his fingers and immediately everyone mortal stilled.

He concentrated for a moment, he hadn't tried this before. He clicked his fingers thinking about Mina, Jonno and Robin. As soon as he did he was relieved to see them moving and the others still.

"What happened?" He asked seeing the way their captives had been reduced from five to three, not to mention the added bonus of Becky.

"She hit me over the head." Jonno told him. Vlad looked around the room; he spied the dented goblet, which really would pack a punch it hit with it. "Before 'rescuing' the Hartleighs."

"See Renfield." Vlad told him, Renfield could deal with it.

Jonno's face was a mixture of horror, "It's fine." He protested quickly.

"So you're telling me we have two slayers running around out there?" Vlad's voice deepened as his annoyance pushed its way forward.

"And Chloe." Robin added, Vlad groaned turning away. He doubted Chloe would be of any use to them, she knew nothing about them. All the information she knew was known by every other slayer, she hadn't picked up any more knowledge as far as he knew.

"The Hartleighs have mingled with the students, we can't find them." The Count told his son, they'd be long gone by now anyway. "We can't do anything until nightfall."

"That's what they're going to be betting on." There was no telling the damage they could do in the meantime, unfortunately that would have to wait. "Maybe they can tell us something."

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Vlad clicked his fingers and immediately the Nobles unfroze. He watched them carefully. "You had the chance to leave, why didn't you?"

Steph looked at Erin, "I didn't want to." She tried to move closer to Erin but Mina held her back with a hand, "I want everything to go back to how it used to be."

Erin looked away; there was never anything that it could go back to. She'd never felt loved in their house so she wasn't missing anything.

"I thought you'd side with the Hartleighs." Ingrid muttered, now that Erin was a half fang she expected them to take the chance to escape.

Tom stared them down, "Her fiancé…"

"Illegal fiancé." They all snapped in the room at the same time.

"He's the one who put a stake in her gut. Any form of acquaintance is over."

With those words the conversation steered in a completely different direction to the one Vlad wanted.

"I'm sorry Erin." Robin apologised to her for the first time, they were on the subject so he wanted to say it. He didn't think he had the confidence to bring it up on his own.

Erin knew he was sorry, she wasn't angry with him for what had happened to her, she was upset that he'd distracted Vlad to the point Vlad had nearly been slain. If she hadn't had her wits about her she dreaded to think what might have happened.

"I know." She told him with a smile, it wasn't a grudge but it wasn't forgiveness yet.

"You stupid girl!" Thomas snapped interrupting them. Erin looked down feeling the familiar sensation of disappointment flooding her. Vlad immediately saw red he knew what it was like to feel like he was a disgrace. Vlad's fangs slid down unnoticed, the only sign was the way his top lip looked as if it were swollen slightly. "Do you have any idea what you put your mother and me through…!"

"Why should I care?" Erin asked, confidence going forwards as her emotions strengthened. "You didn't care about me! I told you I have a new family now and they accept me for who I am."

It had been a long haul but the vampires had taken her in once more, regardless of how reluctant they were to do so at first.

"You had a future as a slayer!" Thomas yelled at her. He hoped he'd have time to undo this before she became one of them but now it was pointless.

"Stop it Thomas!" Steph snapped at him, angry at the way he was treating their daughter. Looking now she could see they were in love and it wasn't a passing fancy. Vlad had wanted her to remain a human as long as possible that showed how much he loved her. Erin wanted to become like him to remain with him, she'd gladly accepted his proposal.

There wasn't anything either of them could do about it now but say things they'd regret. They had to learn to move on.

Vlad watched as Erin tensed before him, he knew what was happening before she did. Her mouth opened and her fangs slid down for the very first time. Her actions made her parents jump back. Thunder rumbled in the background, Erin was quickly learning to access her powers. Her voice deepened as she growled.

"You just can't control yourself!" Thomas snapped at Erin, "You see why we never wanted you to become part of his kind. They make you do things you don't want to."

Vlad sped forward pulling Erin back towards him, wrapping his arms half protectively half restrictively around her stomach.

"Don't you dare lecture her on my culture!" Vlad yelled at Erin's parents, his fists shaking in anger. The light glistening of his still extended fangs. "Not when your own is so twisted, forcing women to…" He trailed off before he gave too much away.

The blow unintentionally ricocheted off Jonno and the young slayer opened his mouth to speak before seeing Erin's shameful gaze automatically linking it back to Vlad's tattered shirt. There was nothing in their culture to his knowledge that would have drawn that reaction from Vlad other than the contract and her true nature being revealed.

Vlad noticed her change and kissed her temple, "I'm not blaming you." He swore, this wasn't her fault it would never be her fault.

Ingrid looked at the young couple; she didn't understand what this was about. "Vlad?"

Thomas looked away; he didn't see a problem with what Erin had been taught. "Erin's been taught about our culture, there's nothing twisted in it."

Vlad looked at Erin, he wanted to say more but he didn't want to violate her confidence in him. Erin nodded, it was better it was in the open than have it come back to haunt them. Vlad closed his eyes before speaking, controlling his voice carefully, "Apart from telling her that its her duty to 'offer' herself if she upsets her husband?"

Jonno and Mina looked at each other, they'd never heard of this but they hadn't been taught the same things in the same way as Erin had.

Ingrid's eyes widened, Erin had upset Vlad. Surely she hadn't thought that he expected it of her or that she had to do that for him?

Bertrand hissed, no one was treated like that.

Her father shrugged as if it didn't bother him, "Erin knows it only applies to her being married as she won't …" Thomas looked between Erin and Vlad. Vlad pulled her tighter to him as Thomas' glare turned to a scold as he realised exactly how far along their relationship truly was.

The Count was by Vlad's side in an instant, "You mean she actually…" Erin nodded slowly; if she hesitated she knew she'd look weak. She closed her eyes waiting for the shouting that she was expecting from her future father in law; she knew he'd be angry with her for this. It was unheard of in the vampire culture.

The Count bent down to Erin's height, Erin trembled in fear, he usually only did that when she was in trouble. He looked at Vlad and Erin panicked as Vlad withdrew his embrace from around her.

The Count hesitantly placed a hand on her shoulder, Erin jumped at the tender contact it was the last thing she expected.

"You were told to do that?" He asked her, Erin bit her lip and nodded, she still couldn't speak. _"Have you ever done it to anyone else?"_ He questioned directly into her mind, he didn't want her to feel anymore embarrassed by asking her out loud. Erin jumped at the intrusion, it felt uncomfortable.

"_She hasn't."_ Vlad told him telepathically, saving Erin from the embarrassment. Vlad was her first and vice versa.

The Count relaxed at his son's admission.

The Count studied Erin closely, his eyes never leaving hers, "No woman does that amongst our kind." He told her gently, looking at his daughter. Even though he always hid his affection for his daughter he still would never tell her to do that for anyone. He rarely felt disgusted but in that moment he did. Erin relaxed, Vlad had told her the same thing.

"I'm sorry." She told them all, she felt as if she'd let them all down. She felt as if she'd brought scandal to the Dracula clan.

The Count did something unexpected then, he kissed her forehead. Erin froze at the gesture. It wasn't a lingering contact it was brief but to Erin it meant everything. She'd never had any form of affectionate contact given to her from a father figure.

"There's nothing to be sorry for. Vlad would never take advantage of you." He knew his son's code of honour and affection for Erin. "No vampire would ever take advantage either."

Vlad lifted her chin, turning her to face him. "I told you it's not your fault. It doesn't change how I feel about you."

"I think you need to teach her about our culture more, tell her the options she has." They were still limited but she clearly would have more freedom as a vampire. "Tell her of her place in our society." Bertrand spoke to Vlad, he looked at Erin he didn't mean in the kitchen as her duties would be different being Queen to every other female vampire.

Ingrid gave Bertrand a strange look, almost as if she was proud of him for suggesting it. Vlad noticed the look and hid a small smile, he'd never seen his sister look like that at anyone not even Will. "I'll help." She offered.

Erin looked at Vlad with a hopeful expression on her face.

Vlad nodded slowly, he promised Erin he'd teach her. Right now he wanted the 'interrogation' back to its original subject. "But first we need to find the Hartleighs and decide what we're going to do with them."

They couldn't keep them all here forever.

Not that he had a clue what to do with them.

TBC

_A/N: What do you think?_

_Thanks for reading._


	9. Everything

_A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1._

_At the moment these chapters aren't showing up until an hour or two after I've posted, if you go under my profile name I've found that they're listed as updated there first than on the actual YD page._

Chapter 9: Everything

The three people in question shuffled nervously under each other's gazes as the vampires tried to decide what was the best way to deal with them.

Mina and Jonno stood slowly, they didn't want to interrupt but perhaps it was better for them to start their hunt for the Hartleighs back at the base and bring their colleagues up to date on the situation.

"Vlad we need to go," Jonno began quietly, "To find them we need to put things in motion, we need to sort out our security so they can't get any more intel or weaponry."

Vlad nodded slowly, he understood the position Jonno was in. "Are you going to tell them about me and Erin?" They needed to know that Vlad and Erin were engaged officially and that a contract had been signed. Not that the contract was of any use so it probably had already been destroyed.

"I'll have to Vlad. There won't be any repercussions for you though, she was dying anyway it as the only way you could save her."

Vlad gave him a small half smile, "Thanks." He was still worried about how the slayers would accept Erin's change, especially as he'd been the one to lay out the terms of the Truce.

"We'll call you later and let you know how everything went." Mina promised him, she knew it would be a long tedious discussion but his actions should still be accepted. She shouldered her rucksack, nearly hitting the Count who dodged out of the way.

"Be careful." Vlad told them as they made their exits towards the doors.

Jonno turned back with a small grin. "You too." Then he closed the door quietly behind him with a click.

Vlad waited until they had completely gone just in case they came back into the room to add any other information to the conversation, before turning back to the Nobles and Becky.

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No one seemed to have an answer, well everyone except Robin. He couldn't understand why they were ignoring the obvious. "You can hypnotise them." Robin suggested, he was really trying to be helpful but hypnotism wasn't the solution in this instance.

"We can't hypnotise them." Vlad told his friend patiently.

"Why not you can hypnotise everyone else?" Robin turned to Erin, "He hypnotised me to get the girl once, what has he hypnotised you for?" Robin bobbed up and down with excitement.

Erin gave Vlad a look that clearly had him squirming, he'd denied using his powers to get the girl.

Ingrid reached out and grasped Robin's jacket by the collar, yanking him back forcefully. Robin let out a choked sound at the surprise of being yanked back. "Vlad can't hypnotise Erin, garlic brain."

"Vlad can hypnotise everyone." He couldn't understand it. The only person he'd ever met that couldn't be hypnotised was Will when Ingrid was in… "Ohhhhh!" He realised. "So it doesn't work when you're in love with that person." Vlad felt like clapping but he behaved himself. "At least we know Erin's safe from him." He pointed out making Erin smile slightly. "So why can't you hypnotise them then?"

"Because if I did all this would start over again, maybe worse than before." None of them could go through all of that again. Erin might be left alone but there as no saying that they wouldn't attack her.

"What about Becky?"

"They can undo the mind wipe at any time," Vlad knew they would only need a shock to undo it as that's what had undone Jonno and Mina's. They could easily find a way to shock Becky out of it. "She knows too much about this school."

In Becky's mind that only left draining her, she trembled at the thought. Sweat gathering on her brow as she watched the conversation unfold.

"You can't keep her here forever Vlad." Erin reminded him gently. Vlad nodded, wrapping an arm around her waist. "We might have to tell her everything." She leaned up and kissed his jaw gently. Vlad's eyes automatically slid shut at the gesture.

"You're still together?" Becky finally found the courage to speak, watching their interaction.

"We never broke up." Erin told her with a faint smile.

"Maybe your parents should hear this too." Bertrand suggested, it was about time they listened to their side of the story.

Erin nodded mutely much to their horror; she wanted them to know the truth about them. To know that vampires were people to and not monsters.

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"Are you all vampires?" Becky asked looking around at the crowd surrounding her.

"Four of us are pure vampires." Ingrid smiled at her, "One half fang and a breather." She missed out Wolfie and Renfield as they were pottering somewhere in the labs, she was only counting who was in the room. "Only two don't drink blood but I won't tell you who." She had a feral smile, Becky gulped.

Vlad and Erin shook their heads at his sister and Becky had a small inkling they were the ones who didn't drink blood but they weren't one hundred percent sure.

"Do you need to scare her?" Robin asked quietly, although he knew Ingrid's speciality was scaring breathers. She thrived on it.

"No, but its more fun this way. She got herself into this."

The Count pointed to his son, "Actually it was Vladdy."

Vlad sighed, looking up at the ceiling and folding his arms over his chest. "Fine, yes, I shouldn't have tried to go on a rampage, now can we move on?" He growled at them. They all nodded, seeing his no nonsense expression.

"How much are you going to tell her? Or do you want me to bite her afterwards if you say too much?" Ingrid offered with a smile.

Vlad's answer was automatic. "No biting."

"Why are they all asking you?" Becky asked him quietly, she hadn't missed that he had authority in his voice, which was strange as he was the youngest.

The Count was the first to answer, he was full of pride as he spoke, "Because Vladdy's going to be the one in charge soon. He's practicing."

"What do you mean 'in charge'?"

"Vlad's going to be their ruler."

"King of the Vampires!" She gushed, looking at him adoringly. Vlad shuffled uncomfortably, Erin ducked her head to hide a smile at his familiar bashfulness when it came to girls. He still wasn't completely confident with her on some subjects.

Becky sent a slightly dismissive look towards Erin, "What does that make you then?" Surely Vlad would marry a princess or the equivalent amongst his society, although she could always hope for the Cinderella scenario and hope that he took lowly Becky Cartwright as his wife.

"Their future Queen." Ingrid, the Count, Vlad, Robin and Bertrand spoke at the same time.

It took a few minutes for the implication to sink into her mind, once she did she turned whiter than the vampires. "That means you're…that you're…" She couldn't say the word.

Ingrid was the one who tipped her head; she was going to enjoy saying this word, anything to watch the girl squirm. "Engaged."

Becky shook her head, Vlad had gone mad. Erin couldn't be his Queen she wasn't right for the job. "She can't be Queen…she's just plain, she doesn't wear make up, she's nothing special."

Vlad's fangs slid down as Erin lowered her head. Her parents had told her that.

"Erin is special to me! Erin saved my life more than once and I love her." Becky's eyes glistened as he spoke, she didn't think his feeling were that deep. She always thought he was just like every other boy, all you do is flutter your eyelashes at me."

Vlad wasn't as immune as he liked to believe in her mind, she gave him a knowing grin. "It worked that once…"

"I wanted to feed off you, anything to get rid of you." He spat at her, his evil had, had enough of her throwing herself at him. The fact she was always stabbing Erin in a back. "Erin knew that. She's the one you have to thank for your throat."

Realisation suddenly dawned on Becky why Erin had tampered with her drink. It was that once when she'd thought Vlad was even more handsome and appealing than usual. "That's why Erin told me to stay away from you, and why she put garlic in my coke?"

Erin nodded slowly, "Vlad was going through a rough patch." Her eyes narrowed, "And you knew how I felt about him when you accepted his lunch date." She hit Vlad in the chest again in memory for that. She'd never punished him for it, it felt good though.

He gave her an apologetic look, his face falling at the memory of hurting her so much.

"If I was a half fang back then I would have drained you dry for doing that…" Her parents gasped at her words while everyone else shared a nervous look.

"Erin." Vlad only had to utter her name and she behaved herself. Erin forced her eyes closed and thought about something different. It wasn't easy like Vlad said, but he had promised to help her thought this. Vlad stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist loosely, stroking her hips in a claming gesture. Erin tipped her head backwards so it rested against his chest.

Becky watched Vlad force Erin to calm herself. She flicked between the two of them. They seemed so relaxed together. "Why are you keeping me here?"

"You released the Hartleighs, do you have any idea what they will do to us?"

"You captured them. I was letting them go before you drained them!"

"They tried to kill us, you let them go! You have no idea what they're capable of!" Vlad knew they would take revenge for their honour being tainted.

Becky shrugged in confusion. "Isn't that their job though, to slay you?"

Vlad managed to stop a harsh hiss from erupting. He grabbed Erin's shirt gently and pulled it up so Becky could see Erin's wound.

"They did this to Erin when she was just like you. They nearly killed her. I have a Truce with the slayers, we don't bite you and they don't slay us. They attacked us and Erin was hurt."

Becky shrugged, "She's fine now." Erin couldn't have been that badly hurt if she was right in front of her. Becky hadn't noticed the bloodstains on Erin's shirt when Erin had appeared with Ingrid and Bertrand when Vlad was about to bite her.

"Because I had to finish the job!" Vlad snarled at her, his voice bouncing off the walls as it deepened in his irritation. "I had to turn her into one of us, I killed her to do that."

His eyes were as dark as thunder and his face was curled into an angry sneer. Becky cringed back in fear. She'd always known there was something dangerous about Vlad.

Vlad stood and ran a hand through his hair, his fringe shifting and falling into his eyes like when Erin first met him.

Erin carefully pushed herself to her feet. She took his hand in hers and pulled him closer to her. Vlad came towards her easily.

Becky immediately felt guilty. She didn't know what they'd done. "You created her?" She had a feeling Vlad had done something but she wasn't sure it had been him that had turned Erin into a vampire.

"Yeah." He told her sadly.

Becky watched the sadness in his eyes at that admission, he didn't want her to be a vampire and she could see in his eyes that it wasn't out of selfishness. Vlad looked away before he showed any more weakness.

Ingrid stepped closer to her, "Vlad might not bite you but if you tell one person what we are I will gladly bottle your blood breather, understand?"

Becky nodded her promise gulping frantically. With a threat like that there was no way she'd break it.

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The strange thing about the Draculas was that once Vlad had gone into one of his moods, whether it was a stubborn one, an angry one or a sad one, no one wanted to risk confronting him. Bertrand had caught the brunt of his anger more than once so he wasn't exactly eager anymore to challenge Vlad like this.

Erin rolled her eyes; none of them had any guts at all. She'd put a stop to whatever mood he was in before it deepened and he became almost impossible. She knew the conversation was over now, his change in mood had put an end to it but she doubted that anyone else knew that.

"What are we going to do until nightfall?" Erin asked Vlad quietly, breaking his gaze from the table where he was sure there was something missing but he couldn't put his finger on what. He shook his head trying to clear it; it was probably his overactive imagination.

His answer was automatic, "Training."

She leaned up and kissed him gently, "Have fun."

Bertrand had a smirk as he spoke; he was trying not to laugh. He was looking forward to saying this ever since she'd become a half fang. "Not for Vlad, for you."

TBC

_A/N: Thanks for reading._


	10. Stitches

_A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1._

_I meant to ask:_

_Would you like the final instalment directly after this one or set a few years in the future (as in when they're twenty one)?_

Chapter 10: Stitches

When Vlad had said training he meant it in its widest sense. His training had mostly been physical exercises but it had included lectures from Bertrand on their culture. At the moment Erin couldn't do any form of physical activity, which mean they were all stuck with listening to Bertrand's law lessons.

Vlad had long ago propped his head up on his hands; trying his best to look interested in the lecture Bertrand was giving her.

"So the engagement has to be announced after Vlad's coronation?" Erin asked completely confused, the book in front of her was completely confusing her.

Bertrand shook his head; he was trying to explain centuries worth of laws to her in the space of a few hours. Even with Vlad he's had months. A normal vampire would have begun learning from the day they were born. "No it can be announced first, but you can't set the date for the mating ceremony until after Vlad's coronation."

"Why not?"

"Because it's the law." It was a lame excuse but it was a reason. Erin felt her head was about to explode; she rubbed her temples gingerly trying to ease her roaring migraine.

Erin gave Vlad a look, "You're not expected to learn this all in a day." He assured her and she felt herself relax. "We just don't want you to think you have to do everything the way your parents have told you too."

"Its not everything." She assured him, most of the things were like his culture or the breather culture. It was only certain embarrassing things.

Bertrand walked across to the shelf and pulled off a book. He handed it to her. "I want you to read this." Erin looked at it curiously.

'A Vampire's Role and Responsibility in Vampire Society'

"It'll help you understand the choices you have now. How you are 'supposed' behave in public and your duties as his Queen." Bertrand had placed careful emphasis on the word supposed, he knew Vlad was going to allow her more leeway and for the first time he wasn't against it.

Erin had no right to be oppressed and taught that she was merely a tool for the slayer population to grow. In their society women were still classed as beneath them but they were still allowed the opportunities to do things their male counterparts did even if it wasn't considered as official.

Vlad sneaked a glance across to Erin, "Did you think anymore about what I asked you?" Vlad queried quietly into her ear. "Before you were injured." Erin's brows knitted together as she tried to remember, her eyes widened as she remembered what it was. He wanted her to be his equal.

"Yeah." She sighed slightly; she'd been hoping he'd forgotten. "I can't be your equal Vlad." She watched as his face fell. He was offering her too much; his kind would never allow it to happen.

He turned away from her; she tried to turn him back to her but failed. She didn't have the strength in her when he was this stubborn.

"Its not that I don't want to." She told him softly, "You just can't hand out that power to anyone." She didn't deserve it, she'd definitely proved, in her mind, that she could shame him and his family. He would be jeered and mocked if she did something more embarrassing in public. She couldn't burden him with that.

Erin truly believed in her case it was better that she was seen (if she had to be) and definitely not heard.

"I know what I'm doing Erin."

Erin shook her head sadly. "You don't Vlad." He slowly turned towards her. "Think about how the rest of your world will feel with what you've offered me…"

Vlad cupped her cheek, she didn't understand. "I don't care about what they think, or what they want."

"You need to start caring about them." She wasn't scolding him; she was telling him that he needed to consider them before making decisions that important now.

"I don't want to rule on my own Erin, I want you there with me."

"I will be." She promised him, she'd always be there for him. Vlad knew what she meant though. He knew she didn't think she deserved it. She'd always been oppressed and told her place. She didn't think she was worth anything more. He wanted to prove to her that to him she deserved everything that could be offered.

"I'll ask again." He half promised he half threatened. He had until their mating ceremony to convince her that she belonged at his side as his equal. He'd aim for his coronation first though, maybe it was a little optimistic but he could hope.

Erin sat herself down again, twisting the book towards her. She didn't look at him once; she was going to be firm on this. It was better if she was in the long run. "I know."

Wolfie chose that moment to bound into the room, he'd taken to helping Renfield in his alchemy and Renfield in turn seemed to enjoy passing on his knowledge to someone who actually wanted to listen.

Vlad had always hated alchemy.

Without warning he made a beeline for Erin.

"Wolfie, no!" Ingrid and Vlad called at exactly the same time seeing what he was about to do but it was too late.

He pounced on a startled Erin, slamming his forearms down on her shoulders before wrapping his arms around her neck and yanking her head down. The action forced her to arch her back backwards violently.

Erin let out a small scream.

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Erin's fangs slid down involuntarily and she started to gasp instinctively as her insides felt like they were being torn apart.

The sight scared Wolfie, the last time he'd seen Erin she didn't have fangs. Erin didn't gnash them or do anything with them they just appeared.

Bertrand was the one who pulled Wolfie from Erin and Vlad gripped Erin's cheeks, forcing her watering eyes to face his.

"Look at me." His tone was firm and she couldn't help but fix her eyes on his.

Bertrand gently handed the Dracula siblings' half brother to Ingrid. Ingrid stroked Wolfie's hair as he trembled at what had just happened. Erin screaming had scared him but her fangs had terrified him.

Bertrand gently lifted Erin's shirt, Vlad's eyes flicking towards Bertrand only when Erin screwed her shut for a few moments.

Vlad winced as he saw the stitches had torn her flesh. The sharp movement had forced her to pull them.

"Painkillers?" She begged, anything to take the pain away.

Vlad's stomach twisted, if only it were that easy, "They don't work on us." The vampires didn't have any form of pain relief medication or alchemy; they dealt with curing things immediately with very few side effects.

"Get Renfield." Vlad told Bertrand quickly, his mentor nodded before vanishing.

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Vlad watched anxiously as Renfield inspected Erin's stitches with squeaky-clean hands, the wound was still too fresh to leave it be without it being treated. He poked her abdomen gently causing her to gasp in pain and shudder as she tried to make it disappear. Erin gripped Vlad's hand tightly.

He stroked her forehead with his other hand, looking down at her as she rested her head on his lap.

"I need to take them all out then stitch the wound closed again." Renfield informed Vlad, looking at the current stitches in Erin. There was no way they could be salvaged. "She won't bleed but it will be painful."

Erin glanced up at Vlad, she was scared.

Vlad shook his head, last time she'd been unconscious this time she'd be awake when she received them.

"How many stitches?" Vlad asked him, the edges of the wound had healed a fraction, making the wound a centimetre or two shorter.

"They have to be close together."

"How many Renfield?" Vlad asked again, he wanted an answer this time.

"Quite a few." He didn't want to say an exact number.

Erin spoke next, "Just do it."

Renfield reached for the curved needle and threaded the needle easily, "I'll be as quick as I can Mistress Erin." He promised her and she nodded. Then he lowered the needle to her gash and began to suture it.

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Vlad hated the way Erin's face screwed up; Bertrand and Ingrid had given her some privacy while Renfield sutured the injury.

It was nearly over; there were only a handful of stitches left now.

"It this what labour will be like?" Vlad teased her as she crushed his hand, trying her best not to tense as she felt the skin being pulled together as Renfield tugged on the strong thread. He'd been trying to distract her since Renfield had begun and it had worked for the most part.

Erin squeezed it harder as she felt the needle pierce her side again. Vlad winced this time as he suspected she exaggerated the pain.

"Believe me when I have your children it'll be much worse." She warned him making him laugh, joining in. Renfield gave an angry snort and Erin forced herself to stop laughing, as she knew she needed to be still for him to finish.

Erin felt a final tugging sensation and then nothing. She tried to look down but her head was too low, she heard the soft metal clanking of a needle being dropped into a kidney bowl.

"All finished Master Vlad."

"Thanks Renfield." Vlad told him, letting out a sigh of relief.

Renfield stepped back and Vlad helped Erin sit up, she leaned back against him. She whimpered as she tried to move her shoulder into a more comfortable position. Renfield saw her discomfort and pressed his hand against her collarbone.

Erin let out a hiss through clenched teeth; it hurt even more than before.

"Wolfie did a little more damage to the bone. Mistress Erin will be more comfortable with a sling." He held a black, toughened plastic one out to Vlad; the Velcro straps would attach it to her and help keep her arm immobile to prevent any further damage.

Vlad wondered if he was planning on giving it to her anyway, especially as he'd brought it to her.

With care Renfield delicately fastened the sling around her arm with care. Once he was convinced it was in the best position for her he stood back to look at his handiwork.

"She needs some rest, Master Vlad. She'll feel better then."

Vlad nodded, before hoisting Erin into his arms and speeding off towards her room.

The sooner she rested the better.

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Vlad rubbed her arm up and down slowly as he looked down at her from his position propped up on his left elbow. He leaned down, closing the gap and kissed her lazily. He didn't want to leave her on her own with everything that had happened over the last few days.

"You okay?" He asked.

Erin felt some discomfort in her side but Renfield had been right, it had helped make her shoulder feel more comfortable. "Fine." She assured him. "I need a coffin." Erin told him, twisting her hands in the duvet. Vlad gave a sigh; it was true she would need a coffin.

"The bed is better for you while your collarbone heals." The soft mattress would mould to her body and help cushion the bone; the wooden base of the coffin would force her bones in the wrong place.

"What about after?" She questioned quietly, she'd never felt comfortable in a coffin. They were too hard for her, not that she'd notice so much now.

"I wanted to ask you about that," He began quietly. He looked away before facing her again, "We could customise one for you, make it more comfortable in here or in my room," The Count had let Ingrid and Will share a room with separate coffins, "Or…" He trailed off looking thoroughly embarrassed.

"Or?" Erin pressed although she was enjoying the adorably embarrassed look on Vlad's face.

He looked up as he spoke, refusing to look her in the eye. His voice quaked with nervousness as he spoke. "I could get a bigger one." He was suggesting that they actually share his room – in the same coffin.

Erin opened her mouth to answer but a blur in the room cut her off before she could answer his nervous question.

Wolfie stood at the bottom of the bed, bouncing from foot to foot clutching his tattered bear. He wasn't sure what to say to Erin. Ingrid had explained that he'd hurt her badly and he needed to take more care before jumping on people.

Vlad motioned with his head for Wolfie to come closer. Wolfie slowly shuffled towards them, his feet scuffing along the floor.

"Sorry Erin." Wolfie whispered, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Its okay." Erin rubbed his back soothingly. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Wolfie climbed up on the bed next to her, he wasn't sure which was the best place to settle next to her so he settled for leaning against his brother instead. Vlad knew this would get uncomfortable so – with care, so not to hurt Erin – he gently lay down and pulled her onto his chest. Erin sighed and snuggled down into him as close as possible.

Vlad lifted his right arm and Wolfie tucked his head on top of his brother's hip glancing at Erin.

"When do I get fangs?" He asked Vlad curiously, almost lying across his chest.

Vlad ruffled his brother's hair. "When you're sixteen and not before."

Vlad had unwittingly stared a whole one sided conversation on that statement. "Why?"

He groaned and Erin giggled into his chest.

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Erin's eyes slowly began to droop and Vlad smiled gently, Wolfie was snoring softly at the end of the bed still attached to his brother's hip.

Both of them jumped, startling fully awake as Erin's phone began to ring and Vlad gave it a curious look. Wolfie slept through it. Erin nodded and he reached over to get it. Erin shuffled slightly, moving away from him.

"Mina…" Vlad greeted as enthusiastically as he could. "I can't hear you." It was rare for Vlad to admit that considering his advanced hearing. His eyes widened and Vlad bolted up suddenly.

Erin pushed herself up with her good arm, "What's wrong?" She asked him quietly.

Vlad shook his head, holding a hand up for her to hold that thought. He was trying to concentrate on hearing what Mina was saying on the other end of the line.

Then the line went dead.

TBC

_A/N: What do you think?_

_Would you like the final instalment directly after this one or set a few years in the future?_

_Thanks for reading._


	11. It

_A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1._

_Sorry, it kept rejecting me when I tried to log in._

_I really hope these two chapters are okay, I knew what I wanted in my head but I seemed to struggle to get it down on paper._

Chapter 11: It

Wolfie had started to yelp as Vlad moved suddenly upwards, knocking him from his brother's side.

Wolfie didn't understand what was happening so he just curled back in the cold space where his brother had just been lying and drifted back off to sleep.

Erin gave a slight grunt as she shoved herself higher so she could sit up. Vlad caught her and gently pulled her upwards. Erin pulled on the hem of her shirt freeing it from where it had ridden up when she was laying across Vlad.

Erin gently pried the phone from his hand and dropped it on the bed.

"What's wrong?" She asked him again.

"I don't know." He answered, he was confused but there was an unexplainable knot in his stomach. The one he always got when one of his family was in trouble.

Erin knelt behind him and rubbed his back slowly. "What did Mina say?"

"I couldn't hear her. Then the line went dead. There was a lot of shouting and noise in the background."

"Did you hear anything?"

He concentrated, staring off into space like he always did, there was one thing he'd only just managed to hear. "Only 'they've got it'."

"Got what?"

Vlad shrugged, he didn't have the faintest idea.

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Ingrid looked like she needed something to wake her up, unfortunately there wasn't a vampire equivalent to coffee. She'd have to force herself to wake up.

Renfield handed her a cup of blood, it was clear to see she wasn't up to her usual form because she a) didn't snatch it off him, b) didn't snarl at him and c) trip him up as he walked away.

"There had better be a good reason for this." She eventually muttered glaring at her brother. At the moment if there wasn't a decent excuse she'd rip his wings off – slowly and very painfully.

Ingrid took a long drink from the blood in the goblet before pulling a face. The exact same expression was mimicked on the faces of the human blood-drinking vampires in the room. The blood was warm and it was vile.

Erin tasted her soy blood, which was fine. It was cool and soothing.

"This is foul." Ingrid spat, throwing her goblet across the room. She was back to normal.

"You can have some soy blood." Vlad offered with a smile, "Its cold."

Ingrid threw him a glare that could freeze hell. Vlad gulped slightly. "This had better be good."

Vlad took a relaxing breath although it had no benefits as such, it was a habit he hadn't yet shaken. "Something's wrong at the Guild. We need to find out what it is before its too late." If Vlad had blood pumping around his body it would have turned cold as the phone cut off.

"How does this affect us?" The Count questioned, the slayers problems were no concern of theirs.

Vlad had been expecting that comment.

"Oh I don't know," Vlad muttered sarcastically, before fixing him with a fierce glare. "Apart from the fact that there might be fifty slayers on their way to kill us."

"Maybe it was a prank." Bertrand suggested, although he wasn't convinced with what he'd just suggested.

"Since when do slayers have a sense of humour?" Robin added, slayers never had a sense of humour. Everyone knew he was right.

"Mina said 'they've got it', just before the phone went dead. She was terrified that they had it."

Everyone said exactly the same thing as Erin did. "Got what?"

"I don't know. Whatever they took they must have taken from this room." He spoke glancing around as he did so. He didn't have a clue what was missing. The others followed his actions but they couldn't see anything out of place in the room. Vlad remembered something; he'd noticed it earlier. "Wasn't there something on the table?"

"What?" Ingrid shrugged, she hadn't noticed anything.

He folded his arms over his chest. "If I knew I'd say. Bertrand?" He hoped the most observant vampire would have noticed something.

"I'm sorry Vlad." He didn't remember anything being there.

Vlad slumped his shoulders there went that plan of hoping they could find out what it was. "Whatever it is we need to get it back, we don't know what they could do with it."

The Count tapped his fingers along the table, "If we don't know what it is it can't be that important Vladdy."

"We can't take that chance. If they've taken it we can't risk it being turned into a weapon."

"What are you planning to do about it?" As she spoke Ingrid leaned forward, she hoped Vlad was suggesting something along the lines of getting out of this school, it was driving her insane.

"Dad, Ingrid and Bertrand you're with me. Suit up we leave at sunset for the Slayer HQ, we're going to get back whatever they took." He commanded taking charge as he should, he knew this would become a more common activity unfortunately when he took his place as leader.

"Hang on what about Erin?" Robin looked at them confused.

Erin nodded her thanks to Vlad's friend; he'd just read her mind. "Yes what about me?"

Vlad tossed his answer over his shoulder as he walked towards the door, "Erin's staying here."

Erin's eyes narrowed at that comment.

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Erin lasted a whole three seconds before marching down the corridors after him. She didn't speed she was going to give him a sporting chance before maiming him for that last comment.

"You are *not* going without me!" She wasn't going to stay behind like ancient vampire women waiting for their husbands to bring home their kill.

"I am." He told her pulling out his leatherwear; he'd rather have something protecting his skin while he was at the HQ. He shrugged out of his school shirt and pulled on the leather jacket, directly on top of his t-shirt but he didn't zip it up.

"There's no way you can fly with that broken collar bone, *and* you haven't learned how to transform into a bat yet."

"You can carry me like last time."

"I am not taking you there Erin." He wasn't going to risk it; if anything happened to him then she wouldn't be able to get back.

"So you're going to leave me here." Her voice sounded pitiful.

He looked at her clearly, she'd never tried pity before and it wasn't going to work. "Yeah."

There were traps and codes that she might know about that could help him get in. The Slayers HQ would be more protected than ever now. "I can help Vlad, I used to be a slayer…"

"Yeah, one that was nearly married off in the name of slaying." Vlad told her, he watched her face fall at his callous comment. He moved closer and pressed his forehead against hers. "Look I'm sorry but I don't think your slayer knowledge is really going to help here."

Erin shook her head; he couldn't dismiss it that easily. "You don't know that Vlad."

"Erin they consider you a traitor, I don't want you walking in there as a target."

"I'm not exactly the person to guard them now am I?" In her state there was no saying they wouldn't overpower her, besides she thought Vlad wasn't willing to leave her with her parents just in case they tried to take her again.

He had the answer to that; she honestly didn't think that he hadn't thought it through? "I'll hypnotise them, put them all in a deep sleep."

"What if they wake accidentally?" She questioned, it was easy enough to do with a simple click and knowing her luck it would happen while he wasn't around. She hadn't been taught to hypnotise anyone yet.

"If I hypnotise them, only I can wake them." He kissed her forehead briefly. His powers were a thousand times more powerful than the average vampire. Once he'd used them only he could undo or combat them.

"I still want to come with you." She repeated, the thought of him facing slayers without her was too much to bear – that's if something had happened.

"Erin you're staying here." Vlad told her firmly, his tongue rolling in his jaw. "That's final."

"If that's what you want…fine." She answered, nodding as she spoke.

Vlad was surprised at her conceding to him so quickly but he was glad she'd finally seen sense.

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Erin smiled at the sight of Vlad in his leather; she always thought he looked more regal in it and far more intimidating. He looked a true vampire.

She was used to seeing the others in leather but not Vlad, sometimes she used to forget what he was. She never dared tell Vlad that though back when she was mortal he'd be even tougher on himself to protect her and make sure he didn't slop.

Erin felt underdressed next to the rest of the vampires, dressed in jeans and one of Vlad's black t-shirts. It was more comfortable with her new stitches; her usual blouse was tugging at them again. The new stitches felt more sensitive than the old ones at the minute.

Erin stood directly in front of Vlad, tracing one of the embossed bats on his jacket before cupping his neck. "Be careful." She told him, lowering her hand to secure the chain that held his cape closed.

"I promise." He told her, pressing his forehead against hers.

Vlad pulled back from her, watching as the sun finally vanished from the sky completely. He turned towards the windows, straightening his back as he prepared to vanish.

Vlad nodded to his father, he knew what he had to do. The Count vanished followed by Ingrid and Bertrand, leaving Vlad alone.

He straightened his cloak before looking upwards, preparing to take flight.

Erin saw her chance and pounced on him as he flew upwards.

TBC

_A/N: Thanks for reading._


	12. Quiet

_A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1._

_I think I know where I'm going with the final instalment now; I have to admit I'm surprised no one suggested they wanted to see Magda making an appearance (as my friend pointed out after giving me a roasting over forgetting Wolfie a little bit)._

Chapter 12: Quiet

Erin let go of Vlad's neck as soon as she could do so safely. Immediately she regretted it as he spun around anger directed at her, Erin stumbled back as she tried to regain her balance from her impromptu flight. At least she knew she didn't have to worry about him biting her by accident anymore.

Vlad's jaw locked and his eyes blazed with barely restrained fury. His fists balled in his cape, pulling it taught as he tugged on it to stop himself from tapping into his powers by accident.

Vlad wasn't impressed with her actions. Vlad gave Erin a scathing glare and she shrugged. He wasn't going to let it drop there though, he was too angry. He should have known her 'yes Vlad, of course Vlad' routine was a ruse.

"What do you think you're doing?" He hissed at her, trying his best to remain quiet. "You can't be here!" Vlad knew there was a reason she'd chosen his *black* t-shirt to change into to 'protect her stitches'.

Erin immediately had an answer to that. "I am now so deal with it!"

Vlad was angry that she hadn't given him a choice, "You won't survive in a fight. You're not even wearing anything that will protect you."

Erin didn't care about that, "I'm not staying behind while you get yourself staked!"

"By coming you'll be the one who's staked!" His voice was filled with venom as he spoke, "You'll be their main target." They'd go after her as she was weakened, the sling would be a dead giveaway.

"Is this the time for a spat?" Ingrid asked them, her gaze snapping between both of them, she couldn't decide on who she wanted to look at or rather should that be she wasn't confident to stare at one particular person for a long time.

Both of their gazes snapped to Ingrid, the determination in them making her step back in fear at what they might to do her. "YES!"

Vlad turned back to the argument in with Erin. "I can look after myself! I'm not pulling a stake out of your stomach for the second time!" He ignored the part where if it happened again she'd be dust.

"That only happened because someone wasn't watching out last time and I had to look out for them!" That was a low blow. Vlad's face froze and Erin was too angry to apologise in that moment. Everyone knew how guilty he felt about that.

Vlad hunched suddenly, Erin mimicked his actions.

Vlad's fangs snapped down at that comment and Erin's followed in retaliation. A low roar of thunder began to echo in the distance, no one was sure which vampire it was coming from.

"Fangs away!" Erin hissed back at him, he'd bared them before at her but this time she knew he couldn't harm her although she felt fear race through her body. Now she knew he could be a terrifying Grand High Vampire when he wanted to be.

Vlad shook his head, squinting. "After you." Yes it was childish but he didn't care in that moment.

They stared at each other for a few more moments before Vlad grabbed Erin firmly around the waist and pulled her to him. Erin arched into him as he kissed her bruisingly, wrapping her good arm around his neck and forcing him to stoop slightly. Erin moaned as his fangs scraped her lip, she opened her mouth instinctively. It was strange kissing with fangs but she didn't care in that moment. Vlad ran a hand up and down her back as their tongues battled.

Erin pulled back remembering they had an audience. She kept forgetting she didn't have to breathe, that would hopefully go away in time.

"Stubborn half fang." He whispered, grinning slightly.

"Stupid vampire." She replied this time with a smile.

"You still shouldn't be here." He told her again all humour leaving his voice.

Erin raised an eyebrow in challenge. "You know I never do what you tell me to."

Vlad opened his mouth before shutting it with a fierce click. She had him there, the one and only time she had (after much cajoling) Bertrand had kidnapped her.

The Count had had enough of this now. "Fangs away both of you!" The Count told the young couple scolding them, finally stepping in to stop their argument.

Both of the young vampires looked as if they'd got their hand caught in the cookie jar.

Vlad rolled his tongue in his mouth and retracted his fangs; he'd forgotten they were down. The Count gestured with his eyes that he wanted to see and Vlad felt like he was having his mouth inspected again in case his fangs were emerging early, just like in his childhood. He couldn't believe he, the Chosen One and future Grand High Vampire, was being forced to do this. Vlad slowly opened his mouth, showing that his teeth looked perfectly human. The Count nodded before turning to Erin.

"Now Erin!" The Count commanded again. They were acting like five year olds – even Wolfie was better behaved than this. Erin's top lips still protruded and she looked concerned. "Erin…" He drew out lowly and as a warning.

Erin tried to give him a small shrug, but stopped herself before she felt any pain race through her body. "I don't know how to." No one had actually explained how to draw them back on command. Before they retracted naturally but she didn't know how to force them.

Vlad gently grasped her chin. "Concentrate, it'll hurt the first few times." Erin's eyes widened at his admission. It was a hard process it made you want to gag, they weren't designed for being forced back into the mouth. "After that you won't feel a thing. It's okay." He promised her. Erin nodded and concentrated, nothing happened for a few moments then she felt it.

Her fangs felt like they were burning, it was as if she was trying to fit a square peg through a round hole and only succeeding by forcing the hole to become bigger. She felt as if she wanted to retch but she fought it. As soon as her fangs were back inside her jaw the pain vanished as if it was never there.

She looked at Vlad who had a sympathetic smile on his face, "It will disappear." He promised her.

Erin nodded, glancing around. There was something missing. "Where are the slayers?"

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By now they should have encountered the slayers, they'd landed in the same place as last time – an area that didn't make them a security risk. It was deserted now.

"Its too quiet." Vlad muttered to Ingrid. She nodded in agreement, last time there'd been here there were slayers milling about. Not an army but at least a dozen in this area and this was the least vital area.

Ingrid sniffed the air but she couldn't smell anything. Bertrand took over, he was more efficient at separating specific scents but even he couldn't smell anything. Vlad rolled his eyes and had a go but still there was nothing.

"Stasis spray." Erin told him quietly. "But why would they be using it?" There was no sense in them using it now; they knew the vampires wouldn't bite them.

Vlad shook his head, "I don't know, but if they are using it then it's not good for us."

They needed to be on their guard.

Ingrid looked around. "What are we going to do?"

Vlad considered his options; they couldn't wait all day to find out what had happened. If they stayed there and something had happened then they'd be sitting ducks. "Erin with me. Bertrand you're with Ingrid. Dad, stay here and tell us if anyone comes. We're going to find out what's happened."

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They'd been wandering the corridors aimlessly.

Bertrand grabbed Ingrid before she could step forward, pulling her back flush against him. "WHAT?" She snapped a little too loudly at him.

"Trap." He pointed to the small sensors imbedded in the wall at hip height. They were triggered by movement, in particular the movement of vampires, which meant they were thermal sensors as well.

"What happens if it's triggered?" She tilted her head upwards, suddenly realising that her back was pressed flush against his chest.

"You don't want to know." Bertrand whispered, his eyes scanning around trying to find a way to bypass the system.

Ingrid hated it when she was treated like an idiot. "Lets say I do."

Bertrand knew he wouldn't get anywhere with the stubborn vampire. He sighed before pointing up to the lights.

Ingrid followed his finger, she didn't see anything special. Then she noticed that the frosted glass light fittings were double the width of the ones at the school as if they should house two fluorescent tubes but only one was working.

"You trigger one sensor these fluorescent tubes switch to UV bulbs." Ingrid winced at the thought. Looking behind them she noticed that the whole corridor had these lights, they'd never get out of there in time before they were ash.

"Is there a way to override them? Turn into bats or something?"

"We don't know the angle on them, they might have a wide sweep or a narrow sweep. We can't risk it." His lips ghosted over her ear, unintentionally but she closed her eyes forcing her body not to shiver at the sensation.

Ingrid nodded, "How do we get past them then?"

"We don't, we have to find another way."

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Erin pressed forward ahead of Vlad slightly, so far she'd spotted three booby traps that Vlad hadn't. So much for not needing her. The last trap (a snare) had him grumbling that something had got into his vision, although she suspected the reason he didn't see these things was because his mind was elsewhere.

Now she was wondering if the reason he didn't want her there was because she was proving distracting to him.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!" Vlad called interrupting her suddenly, his hand clamped around her right wrist, pulling her beck a few steps towards him. Erin looked at him in confusion before she noticed the stench of garlic that was growing stronger.

"Where's that coming from?" She asked gagging, bending over and coughing violently.

Vlad lifted his arm upwards, gesturing to a vent that was beginning to pump out poisonous garlic gas in its grey smoke form. As long as it didn't touch them they were fine.

Vlad looked backwards in time to see a large metal door shut at the end of the corridor with clanks and bangs, followed by many smaller ones until they were confined in a small space.

It was filling up with gas quickly. Within seconds they would be ash.

He glanced around looking for some form of switch or lever that they'd accidentally activated but he couldn't find anything.

"Automatic loop." Erin told him, she'd heard of these, "They go off every half hour or so, they make sure there isn't a vampire, if there is it traps them and disposes of them." Disposes of them, how…clinical sounding.

"How do we stop it?"

"We can't it does it on its own."

He heard a faint beeping and looked up automatically. There was a timer on the wall fifteen seconds until the cycle ended, they wouldn't last fifteen seconds.

They couldn't go backwards, they could only go on forwards.

Vlad concentrated but he felt his energy being zapped. The walls were argentalium, in its purest and most dense form.

He looked at the door and imagined it rising, the effort forcing his eyes to turn black as he drew the strength from his evil side. Slowly the door shuddered and creaked before moaning as it scraped upwards slowly.

"Get through." He told her with clenched teeth. Erin nodded and dove through the hole; luckily she didn't land on anything already injured.

Erin glanced back at Vlad who seemed to be struggling on holding the door and walking.

Vlad couldn't do both.

"Speed." She told him, he could manage to get out of there before the door fell then.

"I can't."

"You can, I know you can." She told him firmly. Vlad nodded before summoning up all his strength and speeding though the door, grabbing Erin as he did so and speeding them as far away from the gas as possible.

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Vlad sped them into a long dark room, Erin coughed and choked. He rubbed her back gently; it was still hard for her to stop mimicking breathing.

"You okay?" He asked her full of concern, if she'd breathed too much in then it could eat away at her lungs.

"Fine." She assured him giving his hand a squeeze; she was always touched by his concern. She'd only breathed a small amount when she was trying to convince him he could do it.

Suddenly the lights flickered on causing Vlad and Erin's vision to swim slightly as their eyes fought to compensate.

"I wondered when you were going to join us."

TBC

_A/N: What do you think?_

_Thanks for reading._


	13. Bound

_A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1._

_Is anyone else having problems logging in?_

Chapter 13: Bound

The couple turned slowly towards the mocking tone of voice. Erin knew that if her heart beat it would be pounding in fear at that voice.

Vlad deliberately didn't go all vampiric on them, he watched them willing his fangs not to drop even a fraction of an inch. He surveyed the room, seeing at least two dozen slayers watching them. Barely restrained hate on their faces, each clutching a stake, a UV gun or a crossbow fully trained on them. Vlad didn't want to give them a reason to fire them.

George Hartleigh smiled at her in a disarming way. He had something tucked under his arm. He was waiting for them, they'd walked into a trap.

Erin knew Vlad would push her behind him, so she was fully prepared when he did so she didn't stumble she moved gracefully. He kept his hand on her stomach as she was manoeuvred behind him.

Her eyes immediately fixed on two people directly in front of her; they were seated in a circle with nine other slayers, each one facing outwards. They were all cable tied together, those cable ties could cause a friction burn worse than rope if they were tied too tightly. Even the slightest movement could cause a burn.

Every single bound slayer had been disarmed. Their flack vests still had the indentations of where their weapons had sat until a few hours ago.

The vampires' gazes searched the bound slayers, each one had some form of cuts or bruises on them. They looked thoroughly dishevelled as if they'd put up a struggle. In amongst the slayers Erin recognised Catherine Millbrook from her hearing, she was the other head of the Guild.

She wanted to know why the slayers had turned against all the heads of the Guild.

Her eyes settled on the other heads of the Guild that were also tied up amongst the slayers.

Jonno's face was bruised along one side, vivid and purple. Erin winced in sympathy for him, she remembered the pain of bruises like that. Jonno's right eye was puffy and swollen, almost fully closed as he looked at them – he'd put up one hell of a fight by the looks of it.

Mina looked a little dishevelled, she'd gotten off lighter than Jonno. Erin could guess that she'd have grip bruises around her arms from where the slayers would have bundled them into a chair.

Vlad turned his gaze from the slayers, who he'd noticed just after Erin, as a noise entered his ears. It was more of a whimper. He followed the sound with his ears first before using his eyes. His jaw set as he clamped eyes on the source of the sound – a huddled figure in the corner.

Chloe. She looked terrified, but she had begged them to take her.

"I'm sorry Vlad…" She hiccupped and gasped as she looked at him.

"SHUT UP!" George shouted at her. He shared a look with his son that held a million thoughts, one being 'why did we bring her with us?'.

Andrew smirked and nodded across the room. A slayer stood along the east wall and pressed a button. Within a few seconds of the button being depressed, a greenish smoke began to filter in through the vents.

This wasn't garlic gas, they couldn't smell it.

Suddenly the world began to go hazy and Vlad felt his knees buckle from underneath him as a wave of tiredness overcame him. He reached out for Erin curling her protectively under him as he fell.

He'd been affected by this before – argentalium spray.

Then everything turned black.

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The mist cleared from Erin's mind slowly, bringing her back to the land of the living gradually. The first sensation she felt was someone forcing her hand behind her back, their hand clamped firmly around her wrist.

Erin yanked a hand away from Andrew making him gasp in surprise. She shoved him back as hard as she could; Andrew flew through the air hitting the opposite wall with a bang and a crack. A giant crack appeared along the wall from top to bottom. White plaster settled on top of the slayer making her grin.

Andrew let out a fierce set of coughs as the white plaster entered his lungs, clogging them. She felt a wave of pride at that, she was surprised that her fangs didn't lower when she did it. He deserved what she'd just done.

Erin tried to move back around to Vlad, seeing that she was going to be sat down directly behind him. She didn't get very far.

Erin bit back a hiss as her arms were yanked backwards to and her hands were cuffed tightly behind her, her left was cuffed to Vlad's right and her right was cuffed to Vlad's left. They knew he wouldn't be able to break out of them without hurting Erin and he'd never hurt her.

She yanked on the cuffs, ignoring the protests of her collarbone, but they wouldn't budge. Vlad managed to squeeze her fingers, calming her.

Andrew stalked across to her, he wasn't standing for any nonsense. He stopped in front of her and crouched down.

Andrew yanked her head down as he tugged at the signet ring around her neck but she didn't cry out. He seemed put out the force didn't break the chain, but this was a vampire chain, it was far more stronger than mortal metals.

"You're still wearing it then." He spat at her.

"Always." Erin answered, she wouldn't take it off, although she didn't know whether she'd have another form or jewellery or something to formalise her mating to Vlad when they went through the ceremony.

"You're one of them." He looked her up and down with barely concealed disgust.

Erin looked him in the eye, "You saw to that didn't you?"

"Will you get a scar?" He asked trying not to shudder; he lifted her shirt up a few inches exposing her stomach to the air, Erin tensed. He looked at the vicious wound, Erin's lip curled upwards. Andrew didn't dare touch the stitches though.

Erin's hands flew closer to her body automatically, Vlad's being pulled towards her thanks to their being cuffed together.

Vlad seemed to know exactly what he was doing. "Leave her alone!" Vlad warned his accent deepening in more than a warning.

Andrew laughed dropping Erin's shirt back down, "What are you going to do vampire? Bite me?"

Vlad's voice dripped with venom, "I won't be that kind." A smile came over his face as he realised something. Andrew glanced back at his father in fear, a coy vampire was a deadly one. "I don't suppose you've told them about your forcing Erin to marry you in return for her license?" Vlad asked loudly.

Andrew froze and a few murmurs began amongst the slayers on their side. George stood staring at the vampire, he wouldn't have counted on him to play that card. He was desperate to stop him.

An idea came to him, he'd really wanted an audience for this but obviously this had to be done the hard way.

George nodded to the other slayers, "Get back to work, there are probably more of his biters around the base."

"Are you sure you can handle them?" One concerned slayer asked, Vlad recognised him as the one who'd planted the tracker on Ingrid. He obviously followed the others.

"I'll keep Andrew with me just in case, but I don't think they'll be much of a threat." George nodded to Andrew and his son hoisted up a sobbing Chloe, "Lock her somewhere else until we can get rid of her. It was a waste of time bringing her here." Andrew handed Chloe to the slayer not too gently, making her skid and nearly fall over.

Chloe sobbed harder, with red puffy eyes she looked back at Vlad. Vlad kept an impassive expression on his face, he'd heard she'd begged them to take her from the vampires but at the moment she deserved all she got, they had bigger things to deal with. Vlad slowly turned his head from her gaze looking back at George.

"Please Vlad!" She screamed as the slayer grabbed her more firmly. "VLAD! HELP ME!" Vlad closed his eyes ignoring her cries completely.

The tall, young slayer nodded before walking towards the exit, closing the door with a bang.

Chloe's pleas still echoing after them.

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As soon as the door closed, George and Andrew folded their arms and stared at them. If they expected Vlad to crack under their penetrating gaze then they had another thing coming. Only one person could make him spill his deepest, most dark secrets and she was currently cuffed to him.

Eventually Andrew answered his question, "Marriage contracts aren't based on love." Andrew snapped at her. "They are based on having children nothing more and a young wife means more children."

"But have you told them?" Vlad pressed, obviously it was a sore point. "I suppose the disgrace…"

"There is no disgrace!" Andrew yelled at him. From that reaction Vlad knew they'd never told them about their little deal in exchange for Erin's licence.

"We can tell them, prove to them…"

The booming laughter of the Hartleighs cut them off. "You think they'll believe you?" George laughed, "I've got them eating out of the palm of my hand." The Guild loved him; they hailed him as their true leader – just as they were supposed to.

The days of Truces and being friends with vampires were over. The vampires had taken everything from him, his wife, his brothers, his sister, his parent and his daughter. It's about time they were made to pay.

Erin asked the question she'd been wanting to know ever since seeing the eleven slayers bound together. "How did you get them to side with you?"

George took the scroll from underneath his arm and held it up to them, undoing it so they could see exactly what it was.

Vlad groaned the second he realised what it was. His head dropping back to rest on Erin's shoulder.

Now Vlad knew what Mina meant by 'they've got it'.

And he knew exactly what was missing from the table.

TBC

_A/N: Thanks for reading._


	14. Rings

_A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1._

_Thank you for all the lovely reviews so far, they really inspire me to try and make each chapter a little be better than the last._

Chapter 14: Rings

George waved Vlad and Erin's marriage contract back and forth between his thumb and index finger. It had never been valid with George having signed Erin and Andrew's; they couldn't understand why he wanted it though.

"You can't do anything with that." Erin told him firmly, they were already engaged before any contracts had been drawn up.

Vlad's eyes narrowed as he looked at it, he angrily looked at Jonno. "I thought it was supposed to be destroyed!" Vlad really wasn't in the mood to accept excuses.

"I thought you were destroying it!"

That was why it had been tossed haphazardly onto the table. Both sides thought the other side was going to deal with it.

"I thought breathers destroyed all form of confidential information when they didn't need it anymore, or doesn't it apply to contracts."

Jonno shuffled his chair closer to Vlad so he could argue with him better. "As I said I thought you were going to flame it or something."

"I didn't know where it was…"

"I put it on the table! It was easy to spot."

"Apparently!" Vlad snapped back. Vlad hadn't devoted time to searching his home for the contract considering everything that had happened, he must have registered it being there subconsciously but that was all.

"So you've got it." Erin continued, looking at Hartleigh and putting a stop to Vlad and Jonno's argument at the same time. "You can't use it. Its invalid." It was strange talking about a null and void marriage contract when she was still engaged to one Vladimir Dracula.

George nodded, she was perfectly right, but he'd made allowances for that. "Only if they knew you were engaged before and only if they knew about the contract I made with your father."

Erin gave a wry smile, "And you're not likely to tell them."

"Exactly."

The longer the slayers didn't know the more secure his power was, besides they would never believe the words of a vampire now he'd twisted the slayers against them in one small action he was waiting for the vampire to call him up on. Any moment now…

"There's nothing in there you can use…" Vlad trailed off, he was sure there wasn't that much writing on it before. There was something different about it.

Jonno noticed that Vlad had cottoned on, "He's added to it." Jonno told him quietly.

Vlad's eyes shot to the contract, his keen eyesight easily reading the print. Erin tried to turn to see but it was just impossible to turn her head one hundred and eight degrees.

The contract would have Erin as a slayer, they marriage wouldn't take place until she was twenty one, there would be heirs and Erin would become a vampire.

"I think my former colleague is talking about conditions five and six." George pointed a finger at the clauses, tapping the paper.

Vlad looked at the clauses his eyes narrowing and his head lowering as he looked at George through his lashes.

Vlad concentrated and a fireball formed in mid air without him having to use his hands for the very first time. Without warning it flew through the air towards the contract. As soon as the fireball touched the paper it spread across it before fizzling out with a weak pop. The contract was still undamaged.

"You didn't think I wouldn't protect it? Argentalium lacquer. Protects from everything, water included." He grinned at Vlad.

Vlad felt Erin nudge him in the small of his back. "What does it say Vlad?" She asked quietly.

"Where are my manners? Your bride should be allowed to see as well." George stepped around them and held out the contract for her to see.

Erin looked at the document, they'd done a remarkable job of copying Ingrid and Bertrand's script. Any one who didn't look closely enough would never notice the difference between the two documents.

Condition five – a slayer a month will be converted into a half fang or drained for the survival of the vampire kind.

Condition six – all slayer weapons will be destroyed.

Vlad would never have pushed those conditions onto the slayers.

"You forged that!"

"No I didn't I just added to it, after all I didn't fake your signatures." He was right he hadn't copied their signatures onto a new document. "The signatures of the High Council, two heads of the Slayers Guild, the bride and the future Grand High Vampire. They're all genuine signatures and that makes it official, it *looks* like you signed to agree to these conditions. They lost confidence in Jonno and Mina the moment they saw their signatures." The slayers considered them as selling the Guild's souls to the devil, even though that wasn't what they'd agreed to.

"What does that give you?" Erin snapped at him, she wanted to know why he'd added to the contract.

"Fear." He laughed at her, the slayers would fear the 'conditions' and that made them so much easier to manipulate. "Fear means power. You can control people if they're scared. Those 'conditions' terrify them, they need a leader, that's me."

"This is juts because of what Erin did isn't it?" Vlad asked him outright.

"This isn't just about you, its been building ever since you signed that Truce. Vampires and Slayers aren't meant to be friends they're meant to fight each other to the death. Of course not all slayers are stupid, Jonno had a few loyal followers." He glanced in disgust at the nine behind them

"So you got what you wanted." Vlad snapped at him. "What are you planning on doing to us now?"

George let out a long laugh, Andrew following him. They were laughing in that way that was almost gloating. They clearly would enjoy this more than the vampires involved.

But Vlad and Erin weren't going to show fear no matter what they did.

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George stood by four large canisters; each canister had a ring of crystals held in place with a metal ring. He was gloating even though he said nothing.

"I'm sure you know what these are…" George patted the devices, before lifting up the monitor on the laptop and typing in something. Andrew grinned from behind him, he'd been looking forward to testing out his little project. Immediately they began to hum loudly. The sound was low and foreboding. "You did a lot of damage to them last time," He stroked the metal affectionately, it was quite disturbing, "They can't be used for long distance slays now. They're good for getting rid of nearby rodents though." He beamed at them.

The crack was still in the one canister from where the Count had thrown a fireball at the generator. It had been hastily patched up.

"So all of this just to kill us? What was the point in the contract?"

"It got me what I wanted. Control of the Guild. Its amazing how gullible slayers really are." He gestured to Erin, "Of course you know that, getting her to fall for you." That made Vlad hiss, he hated anyone suggesting that he'd tricked Erin into their relationship.

Erin darted her eyes away as a ring of lights switched on, directly in her line of sight. The lights were set in rings. There were five sets of rings starting at the far end of the room, the final set finishing directly above them. In each set of rings there was a higher concentration of lights than the last. The fifth set had eight lights and the third had fifteen.

Jonno was the next to speak, pointing out a flaw in George's plan. "You know Vlad's kind will retaliate for killing him."

"Oh I know." He grinned manically, "I'm looking forward to it. Of course some lives will be lost but it's worth it to get rid of the vampires.

"You're crazy." Erin spat at him.

George walked around them until he stepped directly in front of her. He stooped slightly as he grasped her chin tightly, "I just want to protect my kind, you just wanted to betray us."

The second set of rings flickered on, adding to the brightness of the first set. Erin squinted as she heard Vlad gasp at the light. Their eyes were far more sensitive to the light than breather eyes, as soon as their sixteenth birthday came their eyes were upgraded so they could see in the night.

"I wired the UV generator into the building." He commented, noticing the vampires' reactions. "Each ring contains UV lights, the monitor has a countdown. Each ring will turn on slowly as the generator's charge builds so it can power them. As soon as all the rings are lit you're dust, the added bonus is that you won't see it coming as the brightness will increase until it overpowers your vision and you won't be able to see a thing." He looked at his watch. "Shouldn't be long now."

He stepped back away from the vampires and the slayers. "Aren't you going to watch?"

"And get their dust on my shoes?" He asked grinning, "I'm recording it though. One copy to send to the Vampire High Council of course."

With that he gave them a sarcastic little wave and vanished out of the door with his son, the door didn't look too hard to break through until they saw another metal door slide down in front of it with a clang and heard another slide down on the other side of the door. The metal was probably argentalium and Vlad wouldn't be able to get through two sets in time.

They were trapped with no other form of escape.

Vlad tugged at his cuffs, trying to break them. He could use all of his power to do so if he wanted but to unleash that amount of power would kill everyone else in the room.

"Vlad?" Erin asked, fear in her voice. Vlad reached back and laced their fingers together, squeezing them firmly, smiling sadly as she returned the gesture.

"We'll be okay." He tried to sound optimistic even though everything screamed the complete opposite.

The third set of rings lit, the brightness in the room increasing again.

As George said their vision vanished within milliseconds of the lights turning on.

They could only sit and wait for the end to come.

TBC

_A/N: What do you think?_

_Thanks for reading._


	15. Cuffed

_A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1._

_Sorry if these chapters aren't up to their usual quality I haven't been very well today so its taken me forever to type._

Chapter 15: Cuffed

The gentle humming of the UV lights picked up a notch letting them know that there was now only one ring left that was unlit.

Erin tugged on the fang cuffs but they wouldn't budge.

She closed her eyes, protecting them.

"Vlad?" She asked leaning her head back on his shoulder. She felt the tense muscles there and the smooth feeling of his leather.

His voice was soft. "Yeah?"

"You can create fireballs right?" That was an obvious question with an obvious answer. "Even though you're fang cuffed." She continued, picturing his expression in her mind.

Vlad had created one in mid air.

"That was an accident, I've never done it before."

"Can you do it again?" Erin asked him quietly.

"I don't know." He answered truthfully, "Why?"

"Do you think you could hit the laptop?" If he hit it then there was a chance it would shut the generator down completely.

"I can't see it." He reminded her, he couldn't aim blind.

As far as Erin was concerned this wasn't the time to argue. "Guess then! You have visions and things use them!"

Vlad sighed before nodding, then he realised Erin couldn't see him. "Okay."

Vlad concentrated, picturing the room in his mind before concentrating on forming a fireball. He poured all the anger he felt into that action just like he had before. It only took a few seconds before he felt the heat of the fireball touching his face.

The fireball flew on course towards the laptop before whizzing past it leaving it completely undamaged, it his one of the canisters behind with a bang and a crash.

"You missed." Jonno told them, although it was intended to be helpful it irritated Vlad to no end.

With clenched teeth he nodded in the direction of Jonno before trying again.

Erin heard the hum of the lights increase and knew that the last ring would be lit in a matter of seconds.

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Vlad used all of his strength to make the fireball more powerful than before. He had to be careful though not to rupture the canisters. He and Erin were in the direct like of fire if they cracked or exploded and Erin wouldn't be able to push them out of the way this time.

With a push he sent the fireball careening in the direction of the laptop.

The lights above them began to turn on, a dim light before becoming stronger and stronger.

The fireball hit the laptop making it explode with a ferocious bang making everyone in the room jump a foot in the air.

The plastic of the laptop melted and twisted from the intensity of the heat, the monitor exploded in a shower of sparks, glass flying in every direction. The smell of burning plastic filled the air.

The lights spluttered and crackled before the entire room was plunged into darkness as the tubes exploded from the sudden power surge that destroying the laptop had brought on. It had worked, hitting the laptop had plunged everything into darkness.

The cameras in the room had been shorted too, which meant the slayers would be on them within minutes.

Vlad's head swam as spots warmed across his vision. He blinked furiously trying to force them away but they would only go away on their own. Erin seemed to be doing better but probably only because she was a recent half fang.

Suddenly one of the walls imploded towards them. Dust floating slowly to the ground, two figures behind it.

"Where the hell have you been?" Vlad shouted at Ingrid and Bertrand.

"Trying to get past all the booby traps!" Ingrid retorted angrily until Bertrand placed a hand on her shoulder and she calmed almost immediately, Vlad had never seen his sister calm that quickly before.

"Hurry up and untie us!" Erin shouted gesturing to the binds that held her and Vlad chained together.

Ingrid cut the ties that held the slayers wrists behind their backs, Bertrand tugged on the cuffs that held Erin and Vlad.

"They're fang cuffs."

"Really?" Vlad asked not bothering to disguise his sarcasm.

Jonno rubbed his wrists and shook his hands trying to get feeling back into them.

Jonno pulled a key from his breast pocket; hopefully these fang cuffs were the older version, the ones who used the same key for every set. The same key used to work in all older slayer cuffs but now, thanks to them being collectors items (by vampires), the more modern versions had the different keys for each set of fang cuffs.

He slid the key into the lock, it fit but that didn't mean it would turn.

The cuffs were stiff but they opened. Erin's left hand was free first, then Jonno released Vlad's right hand. The young slayer's hands shook from being restrained for so long behind him.

He placed the key into the cuff on Erin's right hand. This was even stiffer to turn, but it was turning until – CRACK.

"Ah!" That didn't sound good. 'Ah' in the tone of 'oops' was never a good thing. Vlad tried to turn to face Jonno, he was curious what that sound meant.

"What's wrong?" Vlad asked him, he was starting to worry seeing the nervous look on Jonno's face.

Jonno lifted up a metal disk, at least that's what it looked like before Vlad realised it as the top of a key.

"Where's the other half?" Vlad asked his eyes narrowing as realisation began to set in. He looked down at the fang cuffs and sure enough there was a small slither of broken metal where the key should be inserted. There was no way the broken key would come out of the lock.

"Sorry Vlad." Jonno muttered sheepishly. The Hartleighs hadn't maintained these cuffs properly; the mechanical insides were all covered in rust.

Vlad stood carefully turning towards Erin before lifting their hands in the air. They were chained together now until they cold find a hacksaw or something.

Ingrid looked at Vlad and Erin still cuffed together, her eyes sparkled with mirth and her lips threatened to quirk upwards. She caught eyes with Bertrand before darting away as she nearly laughed out loud. It took ball and chain to new levels.

"Flap off Ingrid." Erin snapped at her. "Unless you're going to be useful and help us get out of these just shut up." Erin was at the end of her tether and her bitterness was rising in her.

Ingrid looked slightly surprised that Erin had spoken to her that way and gave her a sharp nod. If Erin wanted help then she'd give her help.

"Ingrid no!" Vlad snapped but he wasn't quick enough. Ingrid let loose a fireball directly towards their wrists.

The fireball hit the chain of the fang cuffs and dissipated across it. Immediately Vlad felt like his wrist was on fire, Erin's eyes streamed as she felt pain flare through her wrist. She half expected her skin to blister from the intense heat. They both felt the urge to shake their wrists to cool it down but they both knew they'd accidentally hurt the other if they did that. They just had to grit their teeth and bear it.

"Why didn't that work?" Ingrid asked in confusion, the fireball should have snapped or at the very least melted the metal of the chain.

"Fang cuffs aren't affected by fireballs." Jonno told her, "They channel the fireball and metal conducts the heat. It's painful."

Vlad's eyes watered as he nodded in agreement, the burning sensation was slowly ebbing but not fast enough in his mind.

At that moment the sirens went off, luckily it wasn't the sonic high-pitched ones that had their ears ringing, but it distracted Vlad and Erin from the pain either way.

Nevertheless it meant the slayers were on their way.

"We'll meet you at the entrance." Vlad told Jonno sharply, Jonno nodded before darting out of the room.

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Jonno and Mina darted around a corner. Mina peered around the corner before nodding her head at Jonno, the coast was clear.

Jonno stealthily tiptoed past her, until he reached his prize – the locker.

Jonno quickly punched his combination into the keypad before the realisation came to him that they might have changed the combination. The red light on the keypad seemed to pulse for an eternity before turning green. Jonno let out a sigh of relief as he opened the door, it was well oiled so it didn't make the slightest noise.

He dove inside only to find the ammo locker with nothing more than three tasers inside. There were no other weapons at all. That was one taser per four slayers but there was nothing he could do about it they couldn't' risk raiding another locker now.

Jonno slammed the door shut before handing the small weapons to the disgruntled slayers.

He motioned with his fingers for them to move out, they couldn't risk a confrontation now. They could only take down three of Hartleighs men, if that. They needed to get out of here.

Jonno would have to find some more non-lethal weapons from somewhere if he was going to take the Guild back from Hartleigh.

They quickly made their way down the corridor before something in a room caught Jonno's eye. He doubled back fixing his gaze on it.

He warred with himself internally for a few seconds before coming to the realisation that he couldn't leave them to the mercy of the Hartleighs.

Vlad wouldn't be pleased though.

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Erin skidded past Vlad yanking his arm forward awkwardly as the chain reached its maximum length. She nearly fell backwards at being brought back to a halt so sharply. Vlad caught her and pulled her close as he ducked back around the corner before the slayers saw them.

Vlad laced their fingers together, this would stop their wrists being dislocated, although he was almost sure his was half way there already.

Vlad peered around the corner, the slayers were still there. They needed to go past them to get to the entrance. Usually he'd use himself as a diversion but at the moment that was impossible.

"We've got to get past them." He whispered.

Erin tipped her head up to look at him, her voice just as quiet. "Any ideas?"

"One." He admitted, before Erin was yanked forwards roughly. "Run!"

As he expected the slayers saw them and pursued them down the corridors. Their steel toe caped boots clicked against the floor as they ran after them. They puffed and panted as they tried to keep up with the two much younger and fitter vampires.

They'd barely ran fifty yards when they found that a pillar was in their way, only one person could go through at a time – their cuffed wrists made sure of that. "Get in front!" Vlad ordered her. Erin obeyed immediately darting in front of him just in time.

Ten yards further down there was another pillar. They did the same again.

"Can't we just speed?" Erin asked him quietly.

"I can but you can't!" He told her as they dodged another pillar. Erin shook her head.

"You can carry me." She suggested, Vlad hadn't considered that. He'd need to stop to hoist her into his arms to hold her without hurting her with these damn cuffs.

The sooner he did that the better. With speed he could lose them much quicker as they wouldn't be able to track them.

Vlad pulled her into a room. Erin looked up at him as they were pressed against the door.

He turned her around carefully and lifted her into his arms. Resting her bad shoulder against his chest, looking their cuffed hands under her legs.

"Ready?" He asked her.

Erin nodded before closing her eyes as Vlad sped off.

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Vlad and Erin met up with Jonno, catching the tail end of his orders, "Right you know what to do."

The slayers nodded before vanishing towards their cars. Vlad didn't know where they were going and he was sure that he didn't want to know either.

Erin's face darkened as soon as she realised who was standing with Jonno and Mina, they had their hands wrapped securely around the arms of the person. "What's she doing here?" This person had hurt Vlad with her blackmailing and she wasn't going to let her get away with it.

"We found her, we can't leave her with them."

"I say we can." The Count interrupted making them all jump, Vlad nodded in agreement. He didn't really want to be blackmailed into anything else.

Bertrand and Ingrid joined them just as the Count finished speaking, they could talk about this later.

The sky was rapidly brightening. "We'll never make it back to the school." Bertrand told them gravely. Even with their vampire speed they would never get there before they were burned to a crisp.

Jonno winced as he spoke, he had an answer, "There is one landmark that's close by…"

TBC

_A/N: Thanks for reading._


	16. Landmark

_A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1._

_I'd like your opinion:_

_Should I include the mating ceremony or skip over it in this trilogy?_

Chapter 16: Landmark

This wasn't exactly what they'd been hoping for but it would have to do.

Vlad surveyed the castle that had once been his home. Vlad should have known the papers would sensationalise it, make Stokely Castle seem like it had been razed to the ground. It had been a popular meeting place back when he wasn't considered the Chosen One.

A third of the castle had survived, not as much as before but something had survived. One of the far towers and the first part of the castle. The fire brigade must have responded quickly when the fire was reported. The building was probably structurally unsafe but at the moment it was shelter from the sun.

The flight in torrential rain had slowed them down somewhat and time was already tight with dawn breaking over the horizon, they'd only just made it in time. Carrying passengers made flight harder too, their manoeuvrability and speed was greatly reduced.

Rain poured through the gaps in the roof. One landed on Vlad's shoulder, running down the leather of his cape. The smell of damp filled the whole area. Vlad stepped out of the way, he wasn't sure the rest of the castle was in much of a better condition.

The floor was damp and some of the grey stonework had mould growing over it, that was where the stone wasn't black and charred from the fire. Piles of stone lay in various places from where supporting beams had burned away, with the loss of the support the stones had fallen to the floor.

Bertrand let out a low curse, as he was the last one in. Smoke trailing behind him as the sun clipped him. He dropped Jonno as soon as he could and Ingrid rushed over to him patting away, letting go of Mina before she did so. The Count still held Chloe in a vice like grip.

Chloe smiled at Vlad as soon as she saw him. She tried to push herself free from the Count and run towards him but the Count wasn't going to let go of him.

"Vl…" Vlad held up his hand, halting Chloe in her tracks.

"Not one word!" He barked at her furiously, he didn't want to even hear her speak. "You're here because the slayers protect all breather life, I had no say in this. If it was up to me I'd have left you with them." Erin had never heard Vlad speaking so coldly before, well she had once but there had been a reason for that.

"Why do you hate me Vlad?" Chloe asked, completely ignoring his demand.

Vlad couldn't believe that she had the nerve to ask that, she really couldn't see anything past her own nose. He found it hard to accept he'd once thought of this girl in front of him as his friend.

Tears made their way down her cheeks, "We could have been happy ruling your kind…"

"*I'd* never have been happy with you as my Queen." He cut her off; he'd never even considered her that way, not even when he used to reminisce of his time in Stokely. If it had gone ahead he would have become vengeful and bitter towards everyone and everything, he would have become the vampire he feared becoming.

Erin decided to take over, she spoke quietly to the girl, "You can't force someone to love you Chloe."

"You did."

"I was supposed to hate Vlad, stop at nothing to slay him. I couldn't because I fell in love with him. I didn't force Vlad into it. Not like you tried to."

"Chloe, Erin has seen both sides of me. The true vampire side and this side of me. She has never run away from it, not like you. She accepted me and my family even though she knew that she could have been killed at any minute," Not forgetting that they'd tried more than once, "I love her for that. The only way I ever felt anything for you was as a friend."

Chloe gestured with her hand towards Erin. "What if you hadn't met Erin?"

That would have been unlikely as well, he had just never felt that way about her and nothing could change that. "I'm sorry Chloe, it wouldn't change anything." Chloe nodded, she opened her mouth to ask a question but Vlad had anticipated it. "What you did, trying to blackmail me into marriage made sure that it would never happen."

Vlad moved his left hand as he spoke, forgetting that Erin was still cuffed to him. She nearly hit him as she found it easier for her hand to be limp.

They shared a look, these cuffs needed to be removed – now.

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The only room that had survived mostly unscathed – surprisingly – had been the large throne room.

One of the walls to the adjoining corridors had collapsed, leaving a pile of rubble inside the room. The floor was slippy and damp in places but as long as they were careful they were fine. The ceiling had a few leaks but nothing major unlike the entranceway. The walls were charred and black but nowhere near as bad as some of the other walls. The doors no longer existed, in their places rivets and handles but nothing more; the fire had fed upon them.

Tables and chairs had been tossed over haphazardly; some lay broken on the floor. Portraits had fallen from the floor, thoroughly damp looking like nothing more than mush now. The tall candelabras had been knocked to the flagstones.

Jonno and Mina hugged themselves as they felt a cool breeze whip around the hall, trying their best not to shiver. Eventually the caved to their bodies' natural way of trying to warm itself.

Vlad and Erin stood with their wrists on one of the tables that had been righted as Bertrand hovered over them with a large handled, medieval, extremely sharp axe. They couldn't find a hacksaw so they'd settled for the next best thing, although this had taken a little exploration to find as Ingrid had removed all the weapons from the throne room when she'd taken over the castle.

Vlad gulped as he knew that if Bertrand slipped one of them could lose a hand.

"Hold still." He told them firmly and they both nodded closing their eyes, neither could watch this.

Ingrid and the Count turned away, as did the other slayers. Everyone clearly didn't want to look in case Bertrand missed.

Bertrand swung the axe down with careful precision twice.

Judging by the lack of agonised screaming he'd hit his targets accurately. He dropped the axe on the table with a clank. The table creaked under the weight of the weapon.

The fang cuffs dropped to the floor with clattering and clinking before bouncing across the floor and away from Vlad and Erin.

Slowly Vlad and Erin cracked an eye open to check that they both still had hands. Seeing that they both did they relaxed.

Vlad rubbed his wrist as soon as he was free from the cuff, giving Bertrand a grateful look.

"Thanks." Erin smiled at Vlad's mentor, as much as she loved Vlad she really didn't want to be cuffed to him for the rest of her unlife in such a literal way.

"We can't stay here for long." Vlad told them sharply. His family knew that tone anywhere; it was usually followed by the deepening of the voice and fangs.

"You might have to." Jonno challenged him. Vlad's head snapped towards him, "They'll be on their way to the school, I've got the rest of my team getting Wolfie, Robin, Renfield and the Nobles out."

They'd wondered where the rest of the slayers had been heading, Jonno had thought this through much to the young vampire's anger. "You had no right…"

Jonno wasn't going to let him get his own way, "I had every right. I have to protect humans, that includes protecting them from crazy slayers." There was no other word for it George and Andrew Hartleigh were crazy.

"No." Vlad told Jonno firmly, "I'm not staying here."

Jonno stared Vlad down, "You don't have a choice Vlad." There was nowhere else he could go, besides it was daylight he was trapped until sunset.

"I'm not staying here!"

"So you're willing to get us and your family killed because you won't stay in Stokely."

Vlad was going to argue back regardless. "I can protect them!"

"I thought you wanted to protect Erin, not get her killed."

Vlad's lip curled he let out a snarl before speeding away.

Erin pushed herself to her feet, "Leave him to me." She muttered before speeding after him.

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Erin just watched him from where she stood in what she assumed was a doorway. She took care not to stand in the small patches of light streaming in through the walls and roof, although at the moment it was more a case of rain making its way in and forming puddles.

"Would it be so awful to stay here for a while?"

Vlad didn't turn towards her as he surveyed the castle grounds through the large, crumbling hole in the wall. "Yes." His tone had a definite finality about it but Erin wasn't going to let him get off that easily. She was fully prepared for an argument if he needed one to see reason.

"You hate this place." Erin muttered sadly.

Vlad shook his head, "I don't hate it." He didn't hate it as such.

"Then what?"

"I just don't have a life here anymore. My life's at the school now, I grew out of this place." He was naïve when he was here last, thinking that all he had to do was be friends with the slayers, that if he hid who he was then everyone would be safe from him and what he was.

Erin knew what he was thinking, but you never really grew out of a place. You got older but that was all that happened, "You live at the school now but it doesn't mean you have to forget about here as well. You lived here for two years Vlad."

He gave her a sad smile, "I know." He looked around, "But it's hard to see what Ingrid did to it." It had never been confirmed but he assumed Ingrid had lost control of her powers when she bit Ryan and became ill so that was probably the reason for it being burned to the ground.

Erin cupped his cheek, "At the moment we haven't got a choice. Jonno's right they'll launch an attack on the school, this is the safest place for us all now." The slayers would go to the school first to search for them.

"Doesn't mean I have to like it." He muttered.

Erin gave him a small half smile, "I know but you've still got me." Vlad nodded and pressed his forehead to hers.

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"I knew we should have copied that contract twice!" Bertrand hissed angrily, they'd been in too much of a hurry last time.

Clearly Jonno had been catching them all up on what had happened.

Vlad shook his head, "It wouldn't work, they'd say we forged a new one. No one knew we were signing it outside the Council and the people in this room. If we produce a new one it'll be classed as convenient."

"What are we going to do?"

"This time I'm not going to stand around while he kills my kind, we have to stop him." Vlad told them all firmly leaning back against a solid (or as solid as it could be) wall. "Any ideas?" His voice was tired.

The only sounds that filled the room were the slow breathing of the slayers.

Just before a loud commotion echoed around the castle.

TBC

_A/N: What do you think?_

_Should I include the mating ceremony or skip over it?_

_Thanks for reading._


	17. Exhausted

_A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1._

_I hope the last two chapters weren't too much of a disappointment. I found it very hard to concentrate to type them, I'm afraid I'm still not back to my normal self today._

Chapter 17: Exhausted

The vampires hunched over instinctively while the slayers straightened, gripping their stakes tightly. Their grips shook with their nerves showing through.

The commotion was arguing and they were thoroughly confused. If it was the Hartleighs or someone else then they shouldn't be arguing. Vlad threw a cautious look to Jonno, who seemed to relax his grip on his stake. Jonno shrugged unsure what to do.

Every creature of the night could hear the racing heartbeats of the slayers, they filled their ears and couldn't tune them out. They were really playing havoc with their sensitive hearing as they tried to hear if whoever had arrived was going to attack on two fronts.

The sounds of clumsy footfalls echoed around the castle, Hartleigh would be more graceful than that. Vlad concentrated, three sets of footsteps were familiar to him.

A small figure bounded in and immediately they relaxed, Vlad recognised the figure straight away and knew they were no threat to them. Stakes clattered to the ground and some of the slayers dropped to the ground. Exhausted completely from the events of the last twenty-four hours.

Wolfie bounded up to them, hugging Erin and Vlad tightly before running over and hugging his sister and the Count. Ingrid let Wolfie hug her but the Count made a display of gesturing towards Renfield to pry Wolfie off him.

Robin darted towards them and Vlad smiled at him, pleased he was okay. On his arm was Becky clinging for dear life as she looked around the castle. She was terrified of being here and what was happening. The arguing as obviously coming from behind him.

The Nobles were pushed into the room before being bundled off into a corner and cuffed to the metal bars sticking out of the wall so they couldn't escape.

"What have you got?" Vlad heard Jonno ask the slayers, his voice was weak with sleep.

"Basic camping and survival equipment, supplies and soy blood." Erin heard that one and laughed. Soy blood was going to be very popular amongst Vlad's family. Vlad tried to give her a scolding look but he failed and laughed along with her.

Erin looked around the room, she knew Vlad wanted to press on and come up with a plan but seeing everyone's current condition she knew that it was impossible. Very few people were on their feet, they couldn't get their exhausted legs to support them, they were all too tired to do so.

Erin gently placed her hand on Vlad's arm, "We're not going to be able to do anything if we're all exhausted. We need to take a break." Tired they were all weaker, tired they would make mistakes.

"She's right Vlad." Jonno looked annoyed that he was agreeing, but not one person in the room had had a good nights sleep in the last twenty-four hours. "We'll take it in turns to keep watch, the more people that sleep the better."

"I'll…"

"Sleep Vlad, you're the most powerful of all of us. We'll need you." Mina told him gently, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Vlad nodded before being handed something quite heavy and blue, he groaned as he realised what it was. His father was going to love these.

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Ingrid found Bertrand in one of the corners of the hall. He was watching the slayers set up the mattresses for them all. They seemed to be losing the battle with the pumps at first until they realised that it might be better for one of them to hold the nozzle in the plug while they pumped them up.

Bertrand was watching them with a cautious eye, they were still slayers – he would never let himself forget that.

Ingrid had noticed how he was sitting as far away from the slayers as possible. "You think they're going to slay you the moment your back is turned?" Ingrid laughed before her face straightened at Bertrand's expression. "You really do don't you?" She honestly didn't think they would.

"You can't trust a slayer." Slayers could never be completely trusted.

"Erin was one." Ingrid pointed out, they could trust her. Erin wouldn't do anything to harm any of them, especially not Vlad.

"Erin was never a true slayer." Bertrand reminded her; even he hadn't been able to smell the unique scent of slayer's blood in Erin when it became clear what she was. "She lacked the murderer's instinct." Ingrid had to agree with that, Erin wasn't the person who killed in cold blood.

Ingrid sat down next to Bertrand, propping herself up against the wall. She reached into her pocket and withdrew a small hipflask she'd taken to carrying. With a smile she held it out to him. Bertrand took it gratefully, he was famished. He took a long drink from it before handing it back to her. Ingrid tucked it back in her pocket.

"I hate this place." She told him firmly, looking around she could still see Will's ash. She hadn't had the courage to clean it up after he'd been slain. She didn't know why she'd stayed there for so long.

"Because of him?" Bertrand asked her with an edge in his voice that Ingrid couldn't quite identify.

"I loved him. He was my soulmate."

Bertrand let out a growl, it surprised Ingrid. "So you're going to take what your therapist said as the truth? That he was your soulmate? You don't even know what that means." There was no way Ingrid could know what Will was for sure.

"I know what it means. I found mine." She wasn't going to accept anything else.

"Sixteen is too young…"

Ingrid immediately leapt to her own defence. "Vlad's seventeen…"

"Vlad and Erin are strong together." Bertrand never thought he'd say that, "They won't leave each other and they can't force themselves to. Vlad has always known when Erin's in danger, he saw past who she was and he loved her enough to want her to remain a breather as long as possible. You turned Will, you didn't care what he wanted you just took his life from him. It wasn't what both of you wanted it was what you wanted." Bertrand had never been so frank with her before. "Vlad and Erin make their decisions together, that's what soulmates do."

Ingrid felt tears glisten in her eyes. "Will wanted to be with me, I couldn't hypnotise him…"

Bertrand was going to be harsh, he didn't want to have to live in Will's shadow. "But did you know how he felt? Did he love you or was it a crush on his part?"

Bertrand's head snapped to one side as Ingrid slapped him hard. He didn't feel it, he was used to far more pain than that. Bertrand pushed himself up, "You can't always live in the past Ingrid." He glared disdainfully at the pile of untouched, four year old ash on the floor.

Ingrid stared after him, he had made her think. She cursed him for that. Had Will loved her and had he been her soulmate?

She shook of the thought, of course he was. Bertrand was just twisting everything, that's what he was good at.

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The Count hadn't been exactly impressed with the sleeping arrangements. Vlad was too tired to argue about it with him.

"And what is this?" The Count poked at the rubber mattress with his finger. The rubber indented slightly before going back to its original position.

"An air bed Dad." Vlad told him exasperatedly.

"And what am I supposed to do with it?" He raised his eyebrows and looked at his son.

Vlad's answer was automatic. "Sleep on it."

While Vlad was having the conversation with the Count, Erin had already lain down on the air mattress. The Count gave her the dirtiest look he could muster; Erin rolled her eyes and ignored him completely. She lay on her back, trying her hardest not to put any weight on her shoulder.

Her eyes almost closed immediately, she forced herself to wait for Vlad.

"I'm not sleeping on that!" He sounded childish as he answered, looking at the mattress as if he was waiting for it to burst into flames.

"If you want a coffin you can get one." Vlad told him firmly, "If you can find one that's not charred, ash or mouldy." He knew his Dad was picky so that should make him reconsider.

The Count had the answer to this of course, "Send them back to get one!"

"I'm not sending the slayers anywhere, wither have the mattress or the floor. I don't care." It wasn't safe for any of them to return to the school and besides they could still be followed when they returned to the castle.

They wouldn't b sleeping on these things for long, "The Council won't want you staying with slayers for long." The Count warned him.

"What does that mean?" Vlad asked his father angrily. The Count smirked.

"I told them where we were, as the Regent…"

"You didn't even ask me before contacting them telepathically!" Vlad snapped at him, this could have done with being put off for at least a century or two. "This isn't the time for the Council to be involved. We need to get ourselves sorted and find a way to deal with them before getting them involved."

"They have a right to know…"

"They are the least of our problems. The Council are outdated Dad, they just sit around and make decisions not caring who it affects." He didn't need to worry about half of them wanting him dead now, they were too terrified of his power to act on that threat now. "We need to deal with this on our own, it's our fault this has happened so we need to fix it." Vlad wasn't leaving any room for argument as he spoke, his word was final. "Are we clear?" Vlad drew out slowly.

The Count didn't speak so Vlad raised his eyebrows and stared his father down. "Yes Vladdy." The Count eventually told him.

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Vlad lay down next to Erin, sinking into the mattress slightly. Erin immediately moulded to him before pulling back and yanking down the zip of his leather jacket. It would only irritated them both as this set of Vlad's leathers always rode up as he moved. She slung her arm across his stomach, her fingers finding a little bit of exposed skin and tracing patterns on it.

Vlad reached across and grabbed his cape, draping it over them. The cape was long and wide enough to cover them both.

"I don't get cold anymore." She smiled at him, she felt extreme colds unlike Vlad because her body hadn't been born to it but she didn't feel the cold at this current temperature.

"I know." He gave her a sad smile. "Sometimes…"

"Its nice to pretend?" She asked him.

"Yeah." He missed her having body warmth, it always comforted him and let him know she was there.

Erin pulled on the cloak, pulling it a bit higher.

The Nobles looked angry enough to slay him, which was nothing unusual there, at the way their daughter was curled naturally into him. Vlad ran a hand up and down her back, trying his best not to smile smugly at them.

Chloe looked at them with a pitiful look, mourning something she'd never had. She began to regret what she'd done, perhaps Vlad might have felt something for her but now the damage had already been done.

Vlad concentrated and a ring appeared around the vampires. It was a protection of sorts. A barrier that only people he trusted could cross. He looked across to Jonno a small apology on his face but Jonno nodded in understanding. He was protecting his family from the Nobles more than anyone else.

Erin looked towards Robin and Becky who were already out for the count, she could hear Wolfie snoring from his place sharing Ingrid's mattress.

Vlad curled his arm around Erin, holding her to him even tighter and burying his nose in her hair. Erin shifted her weight and rested her head on Vlad's chest. Erin gave a contented sigh and buried herself deeper into his arms.

He felt Erin still under his touch, panicking for a split second at her lack of breathing before remembering that everything was still okay.

He slowly closed his eyes and felt himself drift off into some much needed rest.

TBC

_A/N: Thanks for reading._


	18. Hide and Seek

_A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1._

_I'm still unsure, whatever most people want I'll go with. I'm not a hundred percent sure of what most people want._

_Would you like me to skip over the mating ceremony or write one in?_

Chapter 18: Hide and Seek

Vlad walked down the corridor slowly, it didn't seem to want to end. He didn't recognise where he was at all. It definitely wasn't the school and it definitely wasn't Stokely Castle. The long corridors were decorated with mahogany panelling and long drapes. The windows were filtered not to let any form of UV light inside so they lit the room with a natural glow.

He wasn't used to being in such a natural light. Only the foyer had light like that, the classroom were always strip lights for the interactive whiteboards to be seen by all the students.

He saw something come out of one of the rooms, closing the door behind her carefully. She turned and he smiled as he saw her, Erin's hair was longer now, it reached her shoulders easily.

Erin crouched down and began tidying something up; he couldn't see what it was at all.

He could see the symbol of Erin's mating to him clearly; he smiled when he saw it. She was his. It was clear for all vampires to see and it could never be disputed.

He went to call out to her but halted as he saw her stand furiously and march through another door. He began to follow her, he tried to speed but he couldn't, so he did the next best thing he sprinted after her.

Vlad rounded the corner to see a small, flat, oval disk, he didn't recognise what it was – he'd never seen anything like it, being thrown directly at her.

Whatever it was it wasn't good. He reached her just as it touched her skin…

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Robin shook Vlad awake, his hand sliding towards Vlad's neck. That was the wrong place to put his hand on a vampire, he jumped back as Vlad's first reaction was to reveal his fangs and shoot upwards. Robin jumped back in fear, Vlad wasn't trying to bite him, he was preparing himself for anything.

Vlad blinked blearily before his eyes focussed on Robin. He rubbed a hand over his face; amazed that Erin was still fast asleep beside him. He hadn't realised how tired her was but he hadn't been sleeping well over the last couple of weeks, now it was beginning to catch up with him.

Robin gave Vlad a strange look, looking between him and Erin almost as if he couldn't believe he'd caught them sleeping on the same mattress (besides the fact there weren't enough mattresses to go around).

He bit back a yawn as he asked, "What is it Robin?"

"You okay?" Robin asked out of concern, Vlad seemed to be distressed before he'd woken him.

Vlad shook of his best friend's concern with a wave of his hand, "Fine," He smiled at him, although he felt worried for some strange reason. It was only a dream. "What's wrong?" Vlad looked down at his watch, nearly five in the afternoon, he didn't realise he'd slept for that long.

"Hartleigh's slayers are coming." The breather whispered to his friend. Vlad immediately sobered at those words. He carefully focused his hearing, trying to locate any sounds at all. He could hear cars about two hundred meters away getting closer and closer.

Erin moved a fraction so she could speak, "Tell them to come back later." Erin muttered, obviously not completely asleep but clearly not awake enough for the severity of Robin's statement to sink in fully. Vlad wasn't sure she knew what she was saying.

"Jonno doesn't think they know we're here." Vlad pushed himself to his feet. Erin gave a moan as she rolled towards the edge of the mattress as Vlad moved.

Vlad darted across to the other vampires and kicked their mattresses, immediately all of them startled awake. Vlad knew better than to wake them the way Robin had woken him, for one they wouldn't take any prisoners with their bites.

Vlad zipped up his jacket before gently waking Erin completely. He couldn't shake her arm yet so he gently shook her legs instead.

Erin stirred fully this time. She blinked slowly before rolling onto her back. "Vlad?" She asked confused, what Robin had said earlier definitely hadn't sunk in.

"Hartleigh's slayers."

Erin was up in a flash, straightening out her crumpled t-shirt.

"What are they doing here?" Had someone let slip where they were?

"Probably recon." Bertrand's voice made Erin jump and he hid a smile, he never failed to make her jump. "They'll probably want to check all your former homes just in case." Vlad nodded, he should have expected this.

Jonno moved across to him having woken up all the slayers to share the 'good' news with them as well. They didn't look any better than the vampires. "We've got trackers in all slayer cars." That's how they knew they were approaching them.

"What aren't you telling us?" Vlad asked Jonno.

"There are two trackers, one main one they all know about but a secondary one hidden in the catalytic converters. They can't be traced."

"You were expecting this?" Ingrid's voice was accusatory.

"It was in case anyone ever took the vans and removed the obvious tracker." His voice dropped lower, "And maybe a little bit of insurance if this ever happened."

Vlad looked around the room at the supplies and packs being strewn across the hall. The mattresses would be easy to spot. "We need to make sure they don't know we're here."

This was going to be interesting trying to make everything disappear.

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Packs were bundled into cupboards and stuffed up the fireplace to hide. The mattresses were the worst things, they took forever to deflate.

Ingrid had enough of sitting on hers to deflate it and stabbed it sharply with one of the broaches she was wearing, dragging the pin along it tearing a deep gash into it.

The initial bang when she'd stuffed the pin into it had everyone glaring back at her, she shrugged her shoulders as if to say 'what?', before looking down at the useless mattress now more happy with it as it had deflated entirely.

Robin shook his head, Erin was doing exactly the same while Vlad looked upwards with a small prayer. He hoped Hartleigh's goons hadn't heard that at all.

He threw up a barrier, seeing that Ingrid's way was actually the best way. With some concentration all the seams of the mattresses in the room split. The slayers glared at him but he didn't care they needed to get out of here quickly. He considered setting them on fire but Hartleigh's followers would notice the smell of burning rubber so he settled for the next best thing. He clicked his fingers and the mattresses disintegrated.

With one last look around the room the slayers headed deeper into the castle. They could only hide and pray they weren't found now.

Vlad placed his hand under his chin, almost if he was blowing a kiss and gentle blew.

The dust slowly covered the footprints they'd left, the same went for the rectangular marks made by the mattresses and the packs.

Will's dust flew around the room drawing a muffled cry from Ingrid. Bertrand looked down at her but she didn't say anything else. Vlad couldn't avoid it when he used this power.

With a final nod to Bertrand giving him the all clear to go ahead of them, Vlad laced his fingers with Erin's before running as fast as he could down the corridors.

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Hartleigh's men were nothing if they weren't thorough, Vlad, Erin, Ingrid and the Count had been trapped in Renfield's former pantry for the last hour and a half. They'd suffered the slayers raiding through the bent and twisted pots and pans then hovered in the shadows of the high ceiling to avoid being spotted.

It was like a giant, deadly game of hide and seek.

Erin leaned against Vlad, trying to ignore the itching of her stomach. For the most part she was succeeding, Renfield had warned it would become itchy as it healed. Vlad had sensed her discomfort and wrapped his arm around her, placing his hand gently over the wound so she couldn't scratch it. Part of her wanted to kiss him for being so thoughtful, the other half wanted to kill him for it.

She'd grown bored of being trapped in the cupboard shortly after the Count's moans about being reduced to hiding and Ingrid worrying if Bertrand was okay. It was strange for Ingrid to worry about anyone other than herself. Wolfie was the one who wanted to play 'I spy' in the dark and Erin regretted ever teaching him that game, that and the odd 'I'm bored' that had them all grinding their teeth. Of course the icing on the cake was the smell, it had her gagging.

"How much longer?" Erin asked him quietly. This waiting was making her more nervous by the minute.

Vlad's face went blank as he probed their minds, he hated doing it but this way he could tell what was happening. "They're getting ready to leave." They were obviously pleased at finding nothing.

Vlad heard a relieved sigh behind him and couldn't decide whether it was from Ingrid or the Count.

Vlad suddenly tipped his head to one side, letting out a groan as a small bat flew into the room. He knew those wings anywhere.

Vlad waited while Atilla morphed back into her vampire form. He only hoped she'd give him a chance to explain before she went off on one of her rants. Vlad blamed his father for this, he knew the Council would demand an explanation almost immediately.

She had no time for pleasantries; her face was as dark as thunder. "We need to talk Vladimir…" That didn't sound good at all.

Everyone shushed her. Thunder rumbled in the background at their actions. Atilla didn't like being shushed.

"I will not be shushed!" She shouted at them making them all cringe.

"You will be quiet!" Vlad whispered angrily at her.

Before Atilla could answer the room suddenly became flooded with artificial light.

TBC

_A/N: What do you think?_

_Would you like me to skip over the mating ceremony or write one in?_

_Thanks for reading._


	19. Home

_A/N: Disclaimer In Chapter 1._

_I haven't decided on a title for the final segment of this trilogy yet, I'm hoping to have on in the next couple of days._

Chapter 19: Home

Instinctively the vampires closed their eyes and turned their heads away from the torchlight. Light was the one natural thing that could tear down a vampire's defences. Their biology couldn't cope with bright light.

Erin spun her whole body around as there was more than one torch pointed towards her. Even through eyelids the brightness was almost too much.

When it became clear that the torchlight wasn't burning them they knew it wasn't Hartleigh's men, standard slayer issue were dual torches with UV bulbs and normal bulbs. A slayer would always have both bulbs switched on.

The lights suddenly dropped as if they remembered that it was vampires they were pointing them at, however a mortal would have reacted in exactly the same way.

The vampires turned to see Jonno and Bertrand standing there. "They've gone." Bertrand informed them. They all relaxed immediately.

"Do you think they bought it?" Erin asked.

"There's no way to know for certain."

It was a gamble but they hadn't hung around, they'd left. If they were convinced they'd return they would have left a small team there, they probably had already done that at the school.

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Vlad pointedly ignored Atilla for the time being, he wasn't interested in whatever she had to say. Bertrand copied Vlad's actions as did everyone else in the room. They had more pressing things to deal with at the moment.

"We need to start repairing the castle if we're going to stay here." Jonno told them all loudly, making sure that no one could claim they hadn't heard him. They couldn't all stay in the same room forever; they needed some privacy even if it was to separate their current room into separate sections for them to sleep in.

Ingrid picked at her fingernails, pretending not to be interested in this conversation. She was trying her hardest not to look at the floor; she was standing in Will's dust. She looked out the corner of her eye, casting a sneaky glance to Bertrand. He stared ahead, if he noticed her gaze he didn't show it. His face was impassive, Ingrid knew he wasn't fully concentrating – he held his head differently. She had the impression he was ignoring her and for some reason that hurt.

He pulled out a large rolled up piece of A2 paper. He laid it flat on the table. The paper kept rolling in on itself. Jonno let out an infuriated groan after a few minutes of trying and marched across the room picking up two boulders. He opened the paper up again before slamming one on one corner before slamming the other on the opposite diagonal corner. The table groaned under the force and weight and everyone took an involuntary step backwards just in case the table collapsed on them.

Vlad squinted slightly too look at the smudged and slightly torn document. They were the blueprints, or rather the most recent ground plan, to Stokely Castle. "Where did you get these?" He asked Jonno, he wasn't angry he was just curious.

"Dad." Jonno explained, his voice strong in memory of his father. Vlad opened his mouth to apologise again but Jonno shook his head. He knew Vlad was sorry but his father was still dead, regardless of the being allies now it didn't lessen the sting.

"What are you planning?" Bertrand asked as he leaned on the table, bracing his palms flat. Jonno was the carpentry expert

"Before anything else the roof needs to be repaired from the inside, outside its too noticeable that someone's staying at the castle." They couldn't have any more rain coming in, their equipment would become useless and when it wasn't training the wing whistled in through the holes. "We need to start fixing up the inside at least having partitions to give some privacy."

The Nobles nodded frantically at that, it had disturbed them seeing how comfortable Erin was in Vlad's arms. If their daughter was going to share with the vampire they wouldn't prefer not to see it.

Ingrid pointed out a small flaw in that plan, lifting up her index finger to make her point. "They'll notice all the materials being brought in…" Breathers might be slow but they weren't stupid.

"That's where you come in." Jonno grimaced, pushing himself away from the blueprints and taking three paces backwards. He wasn't sure how the vampires would react to his idea, Vlad smirked, as it didn't escape him that Jonno was stepping closer to his fellow slayers. "You can go out at night and you're faster than us. You can bring it in under the cover of darkness, no one will be watching you."

"You want us to become work horses?" The Count sneered bending down at the hips, "No way."

"Its only for the materials, you're faster and stronger than us, you can bring it back and we can start straight away. We know more about carpentry so it'll be us doing the work." It would take forever to teach them how to use the tools properly. The Count would probably break them or burn something in his irritation – and he would get irritated by something.

The Count looked at his son, seeing the waiting look on Vlad's face. "Fine." The Count snapped at him.

Vlad smiled at Jonno, "What do you need?"

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Jonno handed Vlad the long list, Vlad knew what most of these things were. He jumped as he felt two chins coming to rest on either shoulder to read the list from behind. That was a pet hate of his, he hated people reading lists over his shoulders. Turning his head a fraction he saw the Count on his right shoulder and Ingrid on his left. Bertrand stood to his right, next to Erin.

"What's that?" The Count asked pointing to Jonno's concentrated, legible script.

"Rivets." Vlad answered. "They're for joining metal, like a screw in wood?" He tried to explain but only received a blank look in reply. "Never mind."

Mina stretched, feeling her back crack back into place. "We can get more when we need it. We don't want too much left over."

By this point Atilla had, had enough, she was fed up of being ignored now. "I need to talk to you Vladimir!" She interrupted, this couldn't wait any longer.

"What are you doing here?" Vlad asked Atilla a little too sharply. At the moment he really wasn't in the mood to deal with his Gran.

Atilla looked at her grandson, a sour look crossing her face. "You can't talk to me like that Vladimir! Not when you don't come of age for another month." She was using the law against him and he let out a growl.

One minute she was speaking to him as if he was already the ruler of the vampire nation, the next she was treating him like a small boy.

"I will be you ruler!" Vlad shouted at her, he was warning her that he'd remember this.

"Not for another month!" She repeated to him again.

Vlad bit back a retort biting his tongue.

The Count took over from his son, a mixture of perturbed and pleased "So why are you here?"

Atilla struggled to answer at first. She was hiding something. "Its about Erin." Erin immediately stepped back, the Nobles leaned forward with interest. "You need to announce your betrothal to her and the ball that will follow." The Nobles slumped backwards, annoyed at their hopes being dashed.

"I thought that wasn't needed now." Erin spoke quietly. She knew it had to be done, but she didn't think it would be so soon.

"It isn't." Vlad told her, "We have enough to deal with at the moment, throwing the Betrothal Ball into it isn't going to help things." Atilla had been brought up to speed on the situation by the Count. For once the Count had enjoyed telling her something she didn't already know.

Atilla stared her grandson down. "You need to show that everything is fine, that you can handle it. Don't give them a reason to suspect anything."

Bertrand hated to agree with her, especially at a time when their kind was about to be hunted, "She's right Vlad." Jonno nodded as well agreeing with them both.

Vlad could see that everyone was against him on this matter, everyone except Erin. They all thought it was a good idea to show he didn't think of the Hartleigh's as a threat. Vlad had his doubts about that plan for a start. "When were you thinking?" Vlad asked her, his teeth clenched as he forced the words out.

Atilla didn't look at him she swept the room with her eyes, looking everywhere else. "Next week."

Vlad heard Erin stumble slightly, his fangs tingled as they fought to teach Atilla a lesson.

Vlad couldn't speak so Ingrid did instead, "Next week?"

This was far too soon for her taste. "Well the ball next week, the announcement tonight." Atilla clarified.

"You're not announcing our engagement that soon." Erin boldly stood up to the Westenra matriarch.

"It *has* to be announced." There was some desperation in that tone, Erin couldn't understand why, neither could anyone else.

Ingrid stepped forward coming to rest beside Erin. "What is this really about?" Erin jumped slightly at Ingrid's voice being so close to her. Ingrid wanted an answer, there was more to this than the young couple's engagement being announced. Normally they wouldn't press for this until Vlad was eighteen, it had been different when they thought the contract was valid but now there was no need for it.

Atilla deliberately ignored Ingrid, moving around the room. She grimaced at the dust covered floor and the puddles that we plain to see. She touched the wall her face twisting as bits of stone crumbled under her grip.

"You can't have a Betrothal Announcement here." Atilla looked around the room, it might have looked a fitting home for the future Grand High Vampire four years ago (well, it hadn't if she was honest) but it didn't look the same now. The school was a far more fitting place.

"Why don't you just use Vlad's home?" The Count suggested, he wanted something impressive for such an important occasion as this. Vlad would only ever have one Betrothal Announcement and it needed to be remembered.

Erin watched as Vlad shrunk down, his neck vanishing as he hunched.

Mina shook her head, "The school…"

The Count gave an exaggerated look upwards, "No Vladdy's future home."

TBC

_A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1._


	20. What

A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1.

IMPORTANT

_This *might* be the last set of YD fics I write for a very long while._

_After what happened with my stories last week; it really threw me for a loop. I'm struggling to pick myself back up again, that's why my posts have been so late._

_I understand many fics can be similar but when identical key plot points are copied almost word for word it becomes more than a coincidence it's heartbreaking. I always try to give 110% per story and spend a couple of weeks interweaving the different plots to try and make them hopefully interesting and enjoyable._

_I feel guilty for saying this considering all the support I've received. I love typing fanfic and I had four other new YD stories planned out._

_It's not a definite decision yet but I thought I should let you know I'm considering it._

Chapter 20: What

Everyone's gazes fixed on Vlad, he bristled slightly but he tried not to let their penetrating gazes affect him.

The silence was thick and heavy as they let this new information sink in.

Eventually someone spoke, blinking confused as he did so. "You have another home?" Jonno asked Vlad, his voice was slightly higher as he couldn't keep the surprise or the slight accusation from it. They could have been there instead of this derelict place.

Vlad nodded slowly, reluctantly. He preferred to just forget about it. "The Draculas have another home apart from the one in Transylvania?"

"Actually its just Vladdy's." The Count was sounding too prideful over that, much to Vlad's upset. If possible Vlad shrunk lower as their stares hardened again fixing on him.

Erin's eyes snapped to Vlad seeing the way he closed his eyes trying to pretend this was all a bad dream. He *owned* a house and he'd never told her. She felt faint. Why hadn't he told her?

Ingrid looked annoyed at her brother, "Vlad has a home of his own? You bought Vlad his own castle?"

"Vlad bought it." Actually that should be Vlad was pressured into buying it.

"Its not a castle!" Vlad protested at exactly the same time. He didn't want a castle. "It was my inheritance anyway." He told her firmly, although childishly.

He came into his inheritance on his sixteenth birthday. It was law that whenever a vampire came of age they had to create an account for any future heirs, Vlad's had been in trust for six hundred years so it had built up to a very substantial amount. Ingrid had a fortune as well, although she couldn't access it until she married a dowry of sorts.

Besides it was better he picked his future home, rather than the Council.

"Who else knows about this?" Jonno asked Vlad again, he was curious why he'd never come across it before.

"Just us." Vlad admitted quietly, he, the Count, Atilla and Crone knew. It was a family matter until he came of age. "No one else, we were keeping it from the slayers." They didn't want to risk being slain.

"So it was a secret from everyone." Erin began, her voice cracking. "Even me."

She looked up at Vlad with glassy eyes, Vlad wanted to say something but he couldn't. It was something that would affect both of them. He should have told her, he just didn't know how to.

Erin blinked slowly before walking stiffly from the room, all eyes on her back.

"I thought she knew." The Count began quietly; he didn't understand the fuss Erin was making over this. He thought about it for another minute, he knew Erin didn't open up and Vlad always did. For Vlad to hide something from her then Erin would think he was doing it on purpose.

Vlad shook his head, "She didn't. I never found the right time."

The Count looked at his son in disappointment, Erin had a right to know. Vlad had to sort this out before it went too far. "Fix this Vlad."

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Erin continued to march out of the hall, for some reason she felt the flames of fury licking at her stomach. Vlad chased after her, a few footsteps behind her. She wished she could go outside and forget about all this for a short while like she did at the school but she didn't know what dangers there were in Stokely.

Erin reached a dead end; Vlad didn't want to let her know that she wouldn't get anywhere as he wanted to trap her.

Erin turned and stared at him before pacing back and forth. "I thought we shared everything!" She snapped at him, when she eventually found the words to speak. "That there were no secrets between us."

Vlad's eyes flashed as her comment forced a few emotions he thought were long buried up to the surface, "Don't go there, Erin!" He warned, his voice deepening so it bounced off the walls and some bricks shaking loose. He didn't want to say something he'd regret over the topic of secrets.

Erin rolled her eyes, "You don't scare me Vladimir." She snapped at him, she was lying he could terrify her when he lost complete control. However she was more terrified for him than herself.

"I just thought if I ignored it, it would go away." Erin could understand that, she thought that about being a slayer.

"A home doesn't go away. It's a home, a home I knew nothing about. We'll have to live there Vlad." She just imagined something different, she didn't expect to find out he already had a future home for them.

Vlad's temper spiked at that comment, "What did you expect Erin? Picking out a house like a normal married couple?" They could never do that.

Erin shook her head, he was being sarcastic now and sarcasm really didn't suit him. "Of course not…"

Vlad continued, "We're not normal. We're vampires. Whether we like it or not I'm going to be Grand High Vampire." He hated that in that moment he sounded as if he'd accepted it, as if he was Bertrand. "I don't even want the stupid hall, manor or whatever it is. I didn't have a choice."

Erin froze at that, "A manor?" She knew he lived in a school but their living quarters were a lot smaller than a manor.

"About the same size as the school." He admitted to her with a wince, he would have preferred something much smaller.

Erin was slightly confused, she needed more details, "Living quarters or…"

"All of it." He admitted slowly, they insisted on him having a hall for holding a ball and a meeting place along with plenty of extra room for any heirs or guests he might have. Being Grand High Vampire he would need to accommodate guests for the signing of treaties and holding balls. "Is it so bad?" He asked her, this was the hardest part to ask.

Erin sighed; she was feeling silly for getting angry. "I feel like you've done this without asking me, made a decision that affects my life without asking me, like my parents." She was insecure with any decision that was made for her.

Vlad spun his arms flailing as he tried to defend himself, "This is why I didn't want to tell you!" He admitted for the first time, this is what he was always afraid of. "I didn't do this to hurt you Erin but because its part of my 'job'. I would have liked to choose a home together but I bought the mansion after my sixteenth birthday." He told her, "A year and a half before we met. It was the best out of a bad set of options." He looked down, this part made him feel slightly sheepish, "I've only been there once." That was when he was looking around it. He wanted something at the time that would be normal looking, nothing like a castle and nothing that would stand out too much.

"You've only been there once?" Erin couldn't believe he'd made such a huge decision on visiting somewhere only once, "You bought a mansion after seeing it only once?"

"I didn't have a choice, it was either I pick it or they pick it. Vampires love gothic, I wanted a choice."

Her voice was quiet as she spoke, "When would we have to live there?"

"I'll have to live there as soon as I turn eighteen." He doubted he would be allowed to remain at the school to finish his breather education. "You wouldn't have to until we're mated."

That obviously wasn't the right thing to say as her jaw locked. "You asked me to share your coffin, now you're tossing me aside?" How could he ask her to live with him – in the same room – at the school and not ask her to live in the same manor as him until it was perfectly legal. She wasn't expecting to share the same room or anything.

"It's not like that Erin!" He was trying to respect her, not force her to live with him in a manor he owned. "I'm not going to force you to live with me before you have to. I don't want you to think the my being Grand High Vampire will force you to do things you don't want to."

"You can be a stupid vampire sometimes," She told him, hitting his chest lightly before stepping into his welcoming embrace. "You shouldn't have hid it from me." Vlad had to nod at that one, he shouldn't have been a coward.

He kissed her forehead lightly, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"I'm sorry I overreacted." She whispered into his chest. Vlad gave a small snort, resting his cheek on her hair. "I hate surprises."

"I know." He answered, "We can have a different manor," He conceded, he wasn't even sure he liked it – not that he could remember much about it. He remembered it was built in the same era as the school and that was about it.

Erin pulled back, "Let me see it first." She asked him with her eyes as well. Vlad closed his eyes and nodded. Erin was curious at what it looked like, his tastes were more 'normal' as in 'normal breather' than 'normal vampire'.

He was feeling guilty now, "If you don't like it…"

Erin placed a soft kiss to his lips, Vlad responded automatically, kissing her deeply. "I won't know if I don't see it." She was definitely being optimistic, she was willing to give it a try.

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Vlad strolled back into the hall, his fingers tightly laced with Erin's. Now they'd sorted their personal problems out there was still one thing he wanted to know. He marched up to Atilla until he stood directly in front of her.

"Why are you really here Gran?" Vlad asked her again, this time he wasn't going to let it drop at all.

"I told you to sort out your Betrothal Announcement."

"There is a slight disagreement amongst the Council."

"There's always a disagreement amongst the Council." Father and son spoke at exactly the same time in the same bored monotone. The only thing that was different was their postures; the Count tapped his chin while Vlad had his arms folded in a defensive stance.

"This is worse than before…" Atilla heard and felt something before they saw it. "Get Erin and get out of here!" She told Vlad firmly, pushing him.

Vlad's face screwed up in confusion, "Why?"

Atilla took a defensive stance that everyone else mimicked. "Just go Vladimir!" She shouted at him.

Vlad nodded as he saw bats emerging into the room. He'd forgotten it was nightfall.

Vlad ran to the doors, pulling Erin along, he couldn't turn into a bat in here – there wasn't enough room.

Augustus landed in front of Atilla. Atilla didn't cower she looked defiant. He had to admit, he was proud of his Gran in that respect she'd battled to be the only female member of the Council and she didn't quiver under their gazes.

Vlad kept running before skidding to a halt as their exit was blocked off. He spun around quickly but all of the exits were suddenly blocked by the other three members of the Council.

Vlad addressed them with the authority he wasn't quite entitle to just yet. "What are you doing here?" Having one Council member was bad enough but all six was a disaster.

Augustus feigned shock for a moment, looking around to find the person he was looking for. "Didn't Atilla tell you?" Augustus gave Atilla disgusted glance. "We gave her the chance to inform you."

Vlad always knew this was about more than his engagement to Erin. Why would Atilla want to travel all this way just to tell him to announce it?

Atilla glared at Augustus, she had tried to undo this in her own way. She knew Augustus would be a 'goody two shoes' and report back to the Council, he was always a stickler for the rules. Her grandson didn't need this to happen to him. In her eyes he'd done no wrong but it wasn't a secret half of them wanted rid of him. If they couldn't get him one way they'd get him another.

Augustus spoke clearly, striking dread into the hearts of everyone in the room, "We're here to put Vladimir Dracula on trial."

A pin could be heard to drop before the entire room uttered one very confused word, "WHAT?"

TBC

_A/N: What do you think?_

_Thanks for reading._


	21. Charge

_A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1._

_Thank you all for bearing with me so far even though I'm having problems at the moment._

_I love to hear feedback, it encourages me to try and make each new chapter (hopefully) better than the rest._

Chapter 21: Charge

Everyone watched the Council in complete silence, trying to work out whether or not this was a sick joke.

"Vladimir Slovodan Napoleon Dracula is standing trial." Augustus repeated while looking directly at Vlad there was some sadness in his eyes.

Vlad blinked furiously, he couldn't understand this. "Why?" He managed to splutter out. He hadn't done anything wrong unless…

Augustus looked grim he opened his mouth to speak but Baylor, an angrily looking ginger haired vampire with a beard, spoke first. "You transformed a half fang before your eighteenth birthday."

Bertrand leapt to Vlad's defence; there was a clause that let him transform her. "She was dying Vlad had no other choice! Erin was claimed and by that law he was allowed to do it!"

Mikhail a young vampire, younger than Bertrand with blond cropped hair smiled, "Not claimed publicly, she might have worn his ring but it hadn't been announced to our kind. How can we take his word for it that she was claimed by him before the transformation?"

Erin and Vlad were officially engaged, there was no disputing that fact but being announced publicly was a different matter altogether.

Bertrand snapped at them angrily, that was a technicality. "You're just trying to find a way to stake him."

Augustus looked indignant at that comment, "Of course not…" He would never consider having the Chosen One slain but Vlad had broken the law.

"What does this mean if Vlad's guilty?" Erin asked, she was confused now.

"Ritual staking." Ingrid told her gravely, Erin felt her hand fly to her scar. Vlad couldn't be killed for saving her. "For both of you." Vlad heard Ingrid's comment and his eyes flickered to Erin, he had an apology in them. Erin shook her head, he didn't need to apologise to her, he'd saved her. The Council were doing this for a reason.

Vlad stood defiantly, before them. His actions had saved Erin; there was nothing wrong in them although he had hated himself for doing it. "I didn't do anything wrong."

"We'll be the ones to decide that!" Jorgen snapped, he was a middle-aged vampire (exactly the same age as the Count) with long black hair that fell to his shoulders. He had a pinched expression as he looked at them all.

The final council member, Elyan was descended from a North American Indian tribe of vampires; he was a more gentle and tolerant vampire. He listened to both sides before making any kind of decision. His hair was platted around the front and fell naturally behind his back; it was greying slightly at the temples.

This was inevitable the Count realised, if it was going to happen Vlad needed somewhere where they could take safely and where the Council couldn't get up to anything.

"I'm not having my son stand trial here!" The Count shouted at them angrily, there were too many holes in the walls for vampires to hide and lurk and listen in on their strategy.

"Fine." Augustus agreed readily, there was no way a fair and just trial could be held in only one room.

"We're going to Vlad's manor?" Erin asked them quietly, Vlad nodded reluctantly. He never thought out of all the official functions that he would have to hold there that his own trial would be one of them.

At least this way he could guarantee his own privacy.

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Vlad landed quietly in front of his manor gateposts; he looked down at Erin waiting for her eyes to open feeling slightly nervous. Erin slowly opened her eyes and swept her gaze along the large grounds towards the manor. The grounds were well tended; rows of hedgerow were planted in Tudoresc patterns.

Vlad was right; it was the same size as the school. The manor had the same russet coloured brickwork that the school had, dating it back to some point during the Stuart era. The windows alternated between squares of greenish, clear glass and diamonds of the same colour. All were inlaid in red. In a few places she could see decoration in stained glass although in the dark it was impossible to tell which colours had been used. High chimneys rose from the roof, some had four grannies others had two at the top of them, all were decorated ornately.

There wasn't an archway or a visible courtyard unlike the school, there was an arched, oak doorway complete with a decorative porch that would shield Vlad from the sun.

Vlad pulled her slowly towards the door, their feet crunching on the cream coloured gravel. As they drew closer Erin was sure she'd been wrong, that Vlad had been wrong, this manor was bigger than the school.

He clicked his fingers and the doors swung open allowing them entry into his home. Although he didn't say it verbally Erin knew he was inviting her in – a key thing if she wanted to enter his home.

The insides were spotless as well, not a single speck of dust rested on the tables. Thick heavy drapes covered the windows. Looking out the windows were tinted, she turned to him in confusion.

"Protective UV coating." He explained, he'd had it done so he wouldn't appear to be afraid of the sunlight, when he'd bought the manor he'd missed the feel of the sunlight on his skin so he had a coating put on the glass so he wouldn't have to live in the dark so much. He rested his back against the panelling.

Vlad clicked his fingers and all the lights in the manor turned on, bathing them in a bright glow. She just knew he wasn't one for hiding in the shadows.

"Everything's so clean." She smiled at him.

"I've had cleaners cleaning this place twice a month for four years. Don't tell Dad." He made her promise; Erin nodded although she had a feeling the Count would find out on his own.

He saw Erin looking at the furniture, "The manor came with it. Most of its not too bad, some is terrible." He admitted with a small smile. The furniture was from a mixture of eras, the manor had been going with everything included as the family that previously owned it (a breather family) had hit hard times and didn't want auction of a collection that had taken generations to build.

"Its you." Erin told him quietly. She wasn't sure what to think about this place.

"I have coffins in rooms already, and clothes – dad's idea." He admitted reluctantly.

Vlad sped across to her and pressed his forehead to hers, "I'm not expecting you to like it." He wasn't even sure if he did, out of six choices, five had been castles. He didn't want to live in a castle.

"I haven't seen all of it yet." She reminded him with a smile. She wasn't going to make a decision about his home without seeing it all.

"I know." He couldn't help but smile back at her.

The sudden sound of people entering his home behind him drew them apart, bringing them back to the reality for why they were here with a thump.

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Vlad just about remembered where the library was located in his own home, they were going to be having their meeting in there. The library was a massive room on two floors. There were a number of books housed in there, about what Vlad had never had the time to find out. He hadn't wanted to at the time. Erin had never seen such a collection of books outside a public library whereas Vlad had grown up with collections like these.

Vlad wished the slayers would hurry up and arrive, he could do with them here see if there was a slayer loophole he could use.

"I swear the first thing to go will be the Council!" Vlad spat at Atilla and Augustus, pacing back and forth. The Council were far too fond of the power they'd gained in the four years without a Grand High Vampire.

"You know you can't…"

"You know I can!" Vlad knew that law inside and out, he had a chance to disband them now.

"It won't be the first thing you do Vlad." Ingrid told him firmly, it couldn't be the first thing to go. He had to do something first before his wish was even possible.

"Why did you even go and tell the other members of the Council?" Vlad shouted angrily at Augustus, "We had the law on our side, this whole mess could have been avoided."

"It just slipped out."

"I'm on trial over something that just slipped out?" Vlad's mood jumped up from irritated to murderous. The whole building began to shake. Ingrid hit him to distract him, it worked. She'd seen Erin do it once or twice, it had been a gamble but it had paid off.

Ingrid cut Vlad's rant off, addressing her grandmother with her arms folded across her chest angrily. "And when were you going to tell us about this?"

"I was trying to get it announced publicly, that way the Council wouldn't have a wing to fly with." Atilla told her grandson angrily. That was the reason for her visit.

Ingrid wasn't going to let her blame them, she hadn't exactly been truthful either. "If you'd told us what you were up to then we might have had this in place and sorted hours ago."

Erin spoke quietly, "Secrets hurt." She told the Westenra matriarch. "We know that better than anyone." She gave Vlad a small sad smile, which he returned immediately.

In a flash Vlad was beside her with his arms around her waist from behind. He kissed her temple softly making her close her eyes and lean in towards him before perching backwards on the nearby table with Erin still in his arms.

Atilla and Augustus looked at each other, giving each other a silent nod. "We need to go in before Mikhail, Baylor and Jorgen try to fix this any more than they already have. They're going to twist everything you say out of proportion until it supports their argument, you can't let them use any of your words against you."

"That makes me feel confident." Vlad muttered under his breath earning a tap to the chest from Erin.

Augustus and Atilla vanished then letting the other vampires continue their conversation.

"Why are they doing this now? Do they really hate him that much?" Erin honestly couldn't think of anyone hating Vlad so much when he hadn't done anything, other than her father that is.

Vlad leaned down and whispered into her ear. "Its about power."

"When Vlad's eighteen they wouldn't have been able to do anything about it. They couldn't prosecute someone who'd authority is above them."

"Can't your dad…"

Ingrid shook her head cutting Erin off in mid speech, "Dad doesn't have the power that Vlad has, he has a small amount over the Council but not enough to let Vlad get away with it." Ingrid strode across the room, using long strides to reach her brother. She stood in front of him. "You are going to go in there and not let them get away with it. You're going to be every bit the vampire leader you're supposed to be and put them in their place, understand?" She ordered.

Vlad nodded, Ingrid like this could be scary.

Erin grinned up at Ingrid, "You really do care about him, don't you?"

"Don't be stupid." Her façade as back up again, "If he's slain who'll give me power as number two?" She smiled at her before clipping her brother around the head, "Don't let me down." Vlad suddenly had a flash back to his blood tests.

Bertrand poked his head around the door; he was making sure that none of them were up to anything underhand. "Vlad, its time."

Vlad nodded, standing he brushed himself down before slowly walking towards the doors.

A hand suddenly appeared in front of his chest, pushing him backwards. Erin looked up at him through her eyelashes, suddenly nervous and shy.

"I want to be in there with you." She whispered.

Vlad went to protest it wouldn't be a nice sight but he conceded. He nodded and Erin smiled. He leaned down and kissed her tenderly. This might be the last time if the Council had their way.

Erin gripped at his neck pulling him down to her height. Vlad bent following her, wrapping his arms tightly around his waist. Erin opened her mouth and moaned as his tongue brushed lightly against hers, twisting her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck.

Vlad slowly pulled back from her, they couldn't afford to keep the Council waiting any longer. He pressed a few final kisses to her lips before looking beyond her to the doors of the hall.

He glanced down at her and she nodded, pulling her shirt down slightly.

Vlad steeled himself before he pushed the door open.

TBC

_A/N: Thanks for reading._


	22. Proof

_A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1._

_I have *finally* got the sequel all mapped out with subplots, but there's one thing I'm really struggling with._

_I've planted seeds but I'm not sure how far you all wanted me to go with it so..._

_How far did people want me to go with Bertrand and Ingrid?_

Chapter 22: Proof

The Council were sitting along a long bench making Vlad reminiscent of Erin's tribunal hearing. The only difference was that this bench was in the shape of a horseshoe while Erin's had been rectangular.

Vlad stood before the Council, Bertrand at his side. Bertrand wasn't entitled to speak during this as Vlad would have to present his own defence, as it was written in their laws, but he could make sure that everything was done to the letter. Bertrand only hoped that Vlad had paid more attention to the laws concerning trials than he had done for the ones for betrothal.

Erin was perched at the back near one of the walls well away from the council so not to draw any form of attention to herself.

"Vladimir Slovodan Napoleon Dracula, you are charged with creating a half fang before your eighteenth birthday, as is the custom of our kind you are guilty until proved otherwise." Very few trials had a not guilty outcome, Vlad wanted to change this for a start. "Do you have anything to say in your defence?"

Vampire trials were usually short and sweet, a decision was reached quickly now. The Council always had 'more important' things to do than to conduct a fair and thought out trial.

"I didn't bite Erin because I wanted to, I bite her to save her. She saved my unlife by pushing me out of the way taking the stake for herself. I had no choice but to bite her."

"Can you prove she wouldn't have survived?"

Vlad scoffed, vampires should know if a mortal could survive Erin's injuries. "She lost too much blood, Erin wouldn't have survived being treated the breather way. She would have had to be treated by the slayers, they didn't have any equipment." Vlad protested.

Mikhail wasn't going to accept his word for it. "So we just have your word for that?"

"Renfield arrived after I'd bitten her, I had to make the choice."

"So you didn't wait to try?" He wanted to get Vlad worked up, to get him to slip and say something he couldn't take back.

"I didn't want to bite her, I loved her so I had to try and save her. As I said, Renfield didn't arrive until after I'd bitten her." Vlad heard the scoffs as he said 'love', vampires didn't do love or rather they didn't acknowledge it if they felt it.

Mikhail waved him off, stopping his argument completely. "But there was no definite guarantee that she wouldn't have survived if you'd waited for a few more minutes for Renfield." Mikhail spoke slowly, sending a dismissive glance towards Erin who bristled at it. She hated being glared at.

Vlad tried another tactic. "How many mortals do you know that have survived the stake?"

"I don't know any mortals." Jorgen hissed at him. "A vampire doesn't associate with breathers *or* slayers!"

Vlad rolled his eyes looking away, a typical vampire response to his question. "Fine, how many mortals have you *heard* of surviving a staking?"

"None." Vlad nodded, smiling, "Because she is the first."

Augustus raised a hand there was an easy way to deal with this. "We need to see her wound to decide for ourselves whether she would have survived or not."

Judging her wound and how far it had healed would give them a clear idea of whether she would have survived or not.

"Come closer my dear." He gestured to her with a falsely cheerful smile. Erin looked across at Vlad and Bertrand, they nodded confirming that it was okay.

Erin approached them slowly; when she was within a few feet of them she gingerly lifted up her shirt, thankful she couldn't feel the cold.

The Council winced, looking at the ugly wound on her stomach. Erin knew Renfield would remove the stitches soon as they were beginning to become uncomfortable and the wound had become shallower. The once vivid red wound was becoming more and more black as it healed, it would alarm a breather but she knew it was normal.

Augustus moved towards her to press his hands to her stomach. Erin jumped back she didn't want anyone touching her that she didn't trust. She even trusted Bertrand more than the Council in front of her.

"It's deep, it's taken a while to heal?" He asked her and she nodded. "It's only just sealed, the wound would never have allowed her to survive." Erin was suddenly thankful that Wolfie had forced her to tear her stitched and open her wound once more if it helped Vlad's case.

Baylor was staring at her stomach as if trying to convince himself her wound was a false one but he couldn't dispute it.

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A small murmur of discussion was held amongst the Council as they debated the evidence of Erin's wound before they looked back at Vlad.

"Can you prove she was claimed before the bite?" Baylor tried a different angle. Erin had been a mortal, very rarely were mortals claimed by vampires. They could use this against him.

"I asked her to be my mate nearly two weeks before it happened."

"But no one outside your family knew about it. For the law to be enforced an engagement must become public knowledge."

Bertrand moved forwards, "There is no such condition!"

"It's new!" Mikhail interrupted, "Its been passed by the board." He grinned, passed as in passed within the last week or so.

"If you can find a way to prove that you had made the engagement official and were planning to announce it, and that this claim didn't happen after her transformation, then no crime will have been committed – but I don't think you have that proof…" Baylor had a sneer on his face as he spoke. He would practically be bouncing up and down in joy at staking him in a few minutes.

Vlad was dumbstruck; they had no right to tell them that they should have announced it. "I can't think of…" Vlad paused grimacing there was something that could prove it. "There is one thing…" Augustus hadn't told them which meant he still had a chance, it had been declared invalid after all but now it could prove useful to him.

"What?" There was a mixture of genuine surprise and loathing in that one word spoken by the Council.

"Something to prove it had been recognised *publicly* by people outside your clan and your betrothed's clan." Mikhail paused before considering his words, "Sorry her *family*." He apologised not sounding sincere at all.

Vlad just prevented himself from retaliating but Erin and Bertrand spat at his insult. Erin didn't consider herself as having a family outside the Draculas and Bertrand spat because it was just insulting.

Vlad spoke slowly, "I can prove it…" It was just difficult to do so.

"You have until the day before your eighteenth birthday."

The irony wasn't lost on him or Erin, before they had to stop her being married before his birthday now they had to prove they intended to announce their engagement publicly before his birthday.

Vlad nodded before turning his back to the Council, they were definitely being abolished when he had the chance.

Vlad turned slowly, "And until then I want you out of my manor."

The Council looked surprised at his request, it was his home and they were intruding. Intruders were frowned upon in vampire culture. They nodded slowly before Baylor's voice followed him, a slightly too gleeful response, Vlad froze as he reached the door.

"Remember, if you can't prove it Vladimir then the punishment is ritual staking for you and your bride."

How could he forget?

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As soon as the three defending vampires had left with Atilla and Crone, a flurry of activity started amongst the remaining Council members.

"How did he get out of that one?" Mikhail hissed at them, he couldn't understand it. The young vampire had been lined up for the staking and he'd managed to somehow talk his way out of it.

"If he finds something Jorgen…" Baylor warned threateningly, "He can't get out of this. He'll be a weak ruler, he didn't even want power." Baylor spat on the ground for emphasis. "Vladimir Dracula will never be Grand High Vampire…when he takes a Queen…"

"We have plenty of time for that. He won't marry her immediately, we can drive a wedge…"

"*Mate*," Mikhail snapped angrily at him, "He'll mate not marry, it can't be undone. He can't have a Queen at his side *and* a High Council. Its why no other Grand High Vampire has married."

Whoever the Queen was would gain the same status and be looked upon as a partnership. They would discuss matters between them and would have no need for a Council.

Elyan decided to interrupt, he was far more tolerant of the young vampire, "Perhaps he'll change the laws, he'll still have a Council."

"I'm not putting my power on a 'perhaps', taking his future Queen will make him unstoppable, we need to do something that will make sure he never hangs onto his power…"

A smile crossed Jorgen's face, "There is something…" He drew out slowly, "Although I'm not sure it can be applied immediately, we might have to wait."

"How long?" They couldn't wait until he was married.

"I don't know. If he finds a way to prove he was going to announce it then this will be the only way to stop him gaining his birthright. It comes down to inheritance."

Elyan flew upwards unable to listen to anymore; he wanted no part in this at all. He didn't care about losing his position on the Council; it had cost him his betrothed two hundred years ago. He hadn't been able to replace her, getting away from the Council would be the best thing he could do.

As he flew away he wished he'd stayed – only to inform Vlad of what they were up to.

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Vlad visibly deflated the moment he left the room. Erin and Bertrand mimicked him perfectly. The trio felt drained after that ordeal.

Immediately everyone crowded around him, fear and hope on their faces. Vlad noticed that the slayers had finally arrived looking slightly worse for wear. From their twitchiness he could tell they had raced here as fast as he could.

"The final sentence has been postponed." Vlad told them.

Jonno was the first to speak, "Why?"

"If I can prove that we were engaged before I transformed her then we're fine. They won't take anyone's word for it."

Jonno shook his head in disbelief. His eyes met Vlad's and they both reached the same conclusion.

Who knew one piece of paper could cause so much trouble?

"We need to get the contract back."

Getting it back from Hartleigh was now more crucial than ever.

TBC

_A/N: Please let me know what you think._

_How far should I go with Bertrand and Ingrid?_

_Thanks for reading._


	23. Strategy

_A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1._

_I finally have a title for the final part._

_The final instalment of this trilogy will be called 'Entitled' and it should start being posted at the weekend._

Chapter 23: Strategy

The Council's demands had made everything just that bit more complicated. They needed to definitely get it back from Hartleigh now more than ever.

"Why do we need the Contract?" Mina asked confused. They needed it to prove that the slayers hadn't signed the conditions George had added but she didn't understand how it would help Vlad in any way.

"Because it's signed by Augustus, Attila and both of you. None of you are immediate family. Gran doesn't count because she's not related through marriage. It counts as being publicly announced and recognised by the Council."

Mina sat herself down heavily on a nearby chair, "Its not going to be easy getting it back. It'll take a while…"

Now Vlad needed to interrupt, "We have to have it the day before my eighteenth birthday." Vlad winced as he told them that. It was barely two weeks away.

They all knew the punishment if they didn't have it in time.

Jonno decided to join in then, "So we need to start planning now."

This was going to be a long night.

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The slayers rubbed their eyes as sleep crept into them; the vampires resisted but had taken to blinking slowly. The Nobles just listened silently.

Mina looked across at them. "We can't attack the HQ, they will have either moved it or fortified it. Knowing George he won't have moved it, he loves a fight and will want you to attack again."

Vlad wanted to point something out, "We didn't attack the first time." He considered it more of a 'finding out what, for the love of garlic, was going on' mission.

"George will have seen it as an attack, you destroyed his favourite weapon – twice." Vlad remembered that weapon a little too well; he was convinced he was still seeing spots every now and again.

"So he created the super weapon?" Erin asked, she thought it was a little out of the Van Helsings' league

"Yeah, he was the one who sent Kurt to slay Vlad all those years ago." Jonno told them all, Vlad remembered Kurt clearly from that one fateful day all those years ago.

Mina continued bring the topic back on track, "George is more of a fanatic about slaying your kind than any other slayer, it'll be worse since they're offended at Erin rejecting Andrew for a vampire."

"I quite like them." Erin uttered doing a good impression of Vlad defending himself for having breathers around when Goody McKeldrick arrived.

The others rolled their eyes but Vlad and the Count smirked. Erin ducked her head down; she hadn't been able to help herself.

Vlad kissed her temple lightly; she could feel his chuckling as his lips brushed her skin, the small vibrations. Erin hit his chest trying to get him to stop laughing but it only made him chuckle louder and louder.

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After a short while they began discussing strategy, something Vlad gladly let Bertrand take over with. Bertrand was more experienced in this area and would know which questions to ask and how to counter any defences that came up.

"What should we expect if we attack the base?" Bertrand questioned quietly.

"We don't know what defences they've laid down for your kind." Jonno sighed rubbing a hand across his face.

Bertrand leaned forward, fully in his element. "What kind of defences?" He asked nonchalantly. This would be vital information for future attacks, not that Vlad would ever let him implement it but even so they could think of a viable defence should they ever attack them.

Jonno opened his mouth to say he couldn't divulge it but weaponry changed and developed over the years. Vlad had shared things with him it was only fair that he return the favour. "The usual slayer weapons: UV guns, crossbows, argentalium spears, stasis spray, garlic gas grenades…"

Erin would never have though stasis spray could be considered a weapon but then again it was designed for getting close to a vampire to slay them.

Vlad's eyes widened as he picked out one of those "Argentalium spears?" Argentalium wouldn't kill them but he couldn't understand why they were forged in the shape of a spear. "What do they do?" He questioned quietly.

Jonno winced as he fought to answer, "They injure vampires enough to make them immobile so we can finish the job."

Surprisingly no one let out a hiss, they must have been too tired to actually do so at the moment. They all obviously wanted to discuss this and get some rest. It was becoming a habit discussing strategy and plans while half asleep.

"There are also some prototype weapons at the Guild." Mina informed them, they had been put a stop to when the truce was formed but George and Andrew would probably try and iron out all the problems.

Bertrand's eyes narrowed, "What do they do?"

"At the moment they just blow up." Jonno answered, that's all they really did. Every time one was activated they had a power surge and blew up, the last one gave him second-degree burns when it exploded in his hand.

"What are they supposed to do?"

"Ones a more powerful UV weapon that can knock out more than one vampire. The other stuns all vampires in the room. Paralyses them so they can be finished off safely, it uses a bright light to do so. The vampire can still think and feel but they can't move." Jonno wasn't proud of that weapon, it was more of a coward's weapon than a slayer's weapon.

The vampires shared a look that was the weapon they all had to watch out for. If they were hit it would be a disaster.

"What does it look like?"

"A bit like the sun cage generator but it's a lot thicker and chunkier. It's heavy too. A series of LEDs pulse when its slid across the floor," If it was thrown it would only shatter into pieces, "It has sensors that sense when it comes to a stop. A central light will pulse five times then a bright light will fill the room. As soon as the light disappears then the vampires will be paralysed."

Now they knew what to look for they could either avoid it or easily destroy it.

"That's the only thing that might provide a real threat if he's refined it."

Erin raised her hand, bringing them back to the whole point for this discussion. "What about the contract? We need to find out where he'll hide it so we can find it."

Jonno knew George was too arrogant and smug to hide it. "George will have the contract on him at all time, he doesn't believe in safes, he doesn't think they're safe." Jonno paused as he went over that sentence in his head again; it made sense – sort of.

"We need to find a way to get it off him." Ingrid muttered under her breath, loud enough for the others to hear but she just didn't have the energy to say it properly.

"He'll be constantly surrounded by fifty slayers he's corrupted." Mina answered, the Slayers Guild HQ had fifty slayers at the moment on duty but she didn't know if he'd call any more in.

"So we'll never get through them to get to him." Erin sighed, shaking her head and running a hand over her face. "Eleven slayers against, three breathers and five vampires. They'll outnumber us easily."

"She's right, we can't attack them at the Guild. Some of us might not even make it past the defences." Bertrand tapped his shin, "We need to lure them out, give them something they can't refuse. Something that will make nearly all of them leave the base."

"They're slayers, give them the one thing they can't refuse, vampires."

"I don't think they're going to pounce on us just yet Ingrid." Vlad told her, the Hartleighs would probably refine their most powerful and painful weapon to use on the Draculas before paying them a visit.

Ingrid nodded, Vlad was right. Then another idea came into her head. They needed a lure and there was one way to make sure the slayers would be hooked. They needed to give them an opportunity they couldn't turn down.

Ingrid's suggestion surprised Vlad, "How about a Betrothal Ball?"

TBC

_A/N: Thanks for reading._


	24. Ball

_A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1._

_I'm afraid I still haven't made up my mind about definitely giving up YD fics yet. I hope to have a decision over the next couple of days._

_I think I know what I'm going to do but I want to make sure it's the right decision._

Chapter 24: Ball

"This isn't the time to start planning a Ball Ingrid!" The Count shouted at his daughter, he couldn't believe she'd suggest it.

Ingrid, however, was going to be heard out. She waved her hands in the air before crossing them over her chest. "You need bait, what better than to lure out Hartleigh's slayers to a hall full of vampires. No slayer could miss that." The Hartleighs would see it as an opportunity they couldn't miss. They would want to be there to slay as many vampires as they could.

"This is my home Ingrid, I'm not having any of Hartleigh's gang here if I can help it. If something goes wrong they'll know where to attack us again in the future, besides there will be more targets for them."

"It's a risk Vlad." Bertrand began and Ingrid's eyes blazed as she looked at Bertrand, he was going against her, "But it's the only way to get the slayers out, they'll want to protect breathers from a bloodbath." Ingrid's eyes softened as Bertrand defended her idea in the end.

Ingrid nodded frantically, agreeing with Bertrand, before continuing to point out why they needed to use this plan. "You need something to draw them out Vlad and in a place you know the layout."

"The layout?" He laughed, "I've been here once Ingrid, the rest of you except Dad haven't been here before. I don't know where anything is!" He protested, they would be at as much a disadvantage as Hartleigh in this place.

"We can learn, it can't take that long to learn it." She told him firmly. Vampires were usually well known for their sense of direction, it wouldn't take them long to memorise everything.

Vlad tried something else, another point that she was forgetting. "Have you forgotten about the Council?" Vlad asked her, "They want proof that we were planning to announce it publicly having a Ball will make them think we're trying to get our kind on our side and that we never had the intention of announcing it before…"

Ingrid had an idea for that, "Then pretend it was the date you were going to announce it." She gave a small shrug as she spoke.

"Isn't that lying?" A small voice asked from below them.

All the vampires and slayers looked down at Wolfie. They hadn't even realised he'd entered the room. They looked between each other trying to egg each other on to answer the young half wolf.

"Erm…" Ingrid began but she failed miserably.

Erin and Vlad looked at each other before Vlad spoke slowly, "Sometimes you have to lie to save the people you love." Erin had lied to save Ryan but it had hurt Vlad, but she hadn't done it maliciously.

Wolfie looked thoughtful for a minute before speaking to them, "You and Erin lied to each other and they didn't need to." Vlad and Erin looked at each other slightly shame faced. They'd had a lot of lies between them in the beginning although Erin couldn't deny telling the most to Vlad. "It didn't help them. Mum's always lied to me and it always hurts"

Vlad and Ingrid gave small smiles, they knew exactly what it was like, Magda was never really the world's best mother. She manipulated her children emotionally, she lied to them and the Count to force her way back into their lives and she wasn't above involving slayers and Patrick to lie and cheat to get what she wanted. None of the Draculas wanted to go through that again, her last visit had left Vlad emotionally scarred. Not one member of the clan wanted Wolfie to experience that.

Bertrand decided to take the initiative and crouched down in front of the half werewolf. Wolfie looked at him nervously, Vlad's mentor never spoke to him. "Wolfie," He began softer than he'd ever spoken to anyone, "Lying is never a nice thing but sometimes there's no other way. This is one of those times we have to do it. You want to save Vlad and Erin don't you?" He asked him.

He nodded frantically. "Yeah." He didn't want to lose either of them. Wolfie became slightly more confident as Bertrand spoke and shuffled closer to him now he was sure he wasn't going to hurt him.

"We're not lying about them being engaged we're just moving their Ball forward a few months. There was never a date set so it's not really lying."

Wolfie looked confused before agreeing to his logic with a nod of his head.

Ingrid had a strange smile on her face as she watched Bertrand interact with Wolfie. Normally he would have lost his temper with anyone else but he was being patient with the almost five year old. She couldn't explain it but she felt different as she watched him interact with the young child, almost warm.

Ingrid shook her head frantically, trying to remove the sensation and the look on her face before anyone noticed.

"So we're having a ball?" She asked bringing everyone back on topic.

Erin and Vlad growled matching grumbles and curses. If they hated being in the spotlight now, they all dreaded when he was going to be crowned.

"When?" Vlad eventually ground out between his clenched teeth.

The Count clamped a hand down on Vlad's shoulder, "You need to do it straight away Vladdy, the quicker we do it the quicker we get that stupid contract." The contract was becoming a swear word to him, he was tempted to make them say 'cracker' instead of 'contract' whenever they wanted to talk about it.

"Make it in a few days." Jonno pleaded, "Anything so we can come up with a plan of what to do when they get here."

"Renfield," Vlad sighed the sigh of the completely defeated, "make the usual discrete travel arrangements."

Renfield gave Vlad a slight bow, "Yes Master Vlad."

Vlad looked at Erin who looked just as defeated as he did, "We'd better start planning a Betrothal Ball."

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Ingrid watched Bertrand from the doorway of his room. Vlad had said they could find anywhere to sleep and they'd taken it literally. Ingrid had seen the typically metal coffin that was in one of the room signalling that it was Vlad's room. This curved, silver coffin in the manor was wider than his at the school but considering the school only had small rooms in their living quarters compared to the throne room sized ones the manor had he couldn't have anything too big.

Tearing her thought away from Vlad's coffin she studied the occupant once more.

Bertrand seemed to appreciate the small library that was in there, he was currently studying an antique book with deep interest. Bertrand wasn't like Will. Will used to follow her lead often, instead Bertrand went his own way. It infuriated her sometimes but she enjoyed the unpredictability of it, the fact she didn't have to make the decisions. Bertrand wasn't afraid to confront her but Will had been after she'd bitten him. It made her think that maybe the ultimate loyalty – love – didn't override the bite she'd given to Will. That perhaps her biting him had just made him loyal to her.

"You were good with Wolfie." Ingrid told Bertrand with a smile. Bertrand jumped at her compliment; he hadn't expected her to be behind him. So much for his training if every Dracula was succeeding in creeping up on him. He nearly dropped the book, catching it with his fingertips before the book could be damaged on the floor and quickly placed it back on the shelf.

"I had brothers and sisters." He explained, hoping she would drop the subject.

"So you used to baby-sit them when you parents went hunting or when you became a full vampire?" Ingrid asked with a smile. She had a vision of him running around after them.

Bertrand shook his head, looking away, "My family was slain when I was ten, not being full vampires saved us. I brought my two sisters and younger brother up on my own until they were old enough to face the mirror." He'd never shared this with anyone before, not even his own mentors at the time.

Ingrid was slightly shocked at this but Bertrand never talked about his past. "How old?"

"Petra was seven, Lucida was five and Oskar was two. I learned to fight to protect them, it became a career." He gave her a half smile. He never set out to be a mentor or serve in wars it had just happened.

"I'm sorry…" She didn't realise any of this.

"Don't pity me." He snapped angrily, if people pitied him it was as if they saw him weak in some way.

Ingrid's response was automatic, "I'm not! I've just never asked you about your past. You know mine, Vlad's even Erin's but we don't know yours. I'm apologising if I brought up bad memories not because I pity you!" Her voice grew louder and louder as she spoke until she was almost yelling at him.

"I'm sorry." Bertrand admitted quietly, her eyes widened. Bertrand never apologised unless he was forced to and here he was offering one willingly. "Its just something I prefer to keep hidden." He answer with a sad smile.

Ingrid nodded before silence engulfed them. She shifted from foot to foot, feeling uncomfortable. She looked up then down then around the room. Her eyes settled on a broken clock in the corner, it would give her a perfect excuse. "I'll leave you to sleep."

She moved towards the door before doubling back and standing in front of him. Ingrid looked up at him hesitantly before standing on her toes and pressing a feather light kiss to his cheek.

If she could have blushed she would have as she darted from the room, leaving a wide-eyed Bertrand in her wake.

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The hall was bigger than he remembered, he was sure of that. It was a large hall with a raised platform at one end. Vlad knew his throne would be placed there in public view. Panelling and ornate carvings covered all of the walls. Decorative stained glass coats of arms reflected down onto the floor casting colours and patterns on the varnished wood.

"I thought I'd find you here." Vlad jumped as Erin's voice joined him, "What are you doing? Everyone else has gone to sleep." She could hear soft snoring with her upgraded hearing.

"Thinking about the decorations." He lifted his arm and she darted underneath, moulding herself to his side comfortably.

"Isn't this usually my job?" Erin asked him with a slight smirk. Usually it was the bride's job to decorate a hall.

"Thought I'd try and help." He felt Erin nod into his chest.

Erin waited a few moments before asking something that had been bugging her for the last week. She hadn't wanted to ask in front of everyone else, she didn't want to look like an idiot.

"What exactly happens at a Betrothal Ball?" Erin asked him, she'd heard it mentioned but she didn't have a clue what it was.

Vlad's answer was one Erin could have easily worked out, "It's celebrating an engagement."

"Is that it?"

Vlad was used to similar events, he'd been to his father's Hunt Ball and that was a precursor as such to a Betrothal Ball. "There's drinking blood, obviously." She chuckled at that one. "Vampire food," She shuddered, "And dancing, I have to dance with every available vampiress to decide if I'm making the right choice in marrying my betrothed." He told her, this was why he didn't want one. Women would try to catch his eye, it would cause more problems than it would solve for him.

"What about me?" She asked him quietly, she wondered if she had to do anything.

"If any men come to dance with you, you have to accept so you can choose one of them if the betrothal is broken by me finding a more 'fitting' bride at the end of the evening."

Erin couldn't help but tease him, "And will you find a better bride?"

"No!" He protested vehemently giving her a slightly angry look at her suggestion. "I don't want anyone else.

Erin was surprised by his reaction to her small tease, "I was teasing Vlad!" He looked slightly shame faced as he realised she was telling the truth. Erin took a moment to look into his eyes and she could see the reason for why he was getting so easily worked up. Erin could see the tiredness in Vlad's eyes, dark bags hung underneath. She lifted a hand to gently caress his cheek. "You. Coffin. Now." She ordered making him groan. He hated being mothered and Erin wouldn't rest until he did what she asked.

"I'm fine Erin." He told her, trying to convince her. He could stay awake a little longer.

Erin pulled back and poked him in the chest. "Renfield is taking the stitches out tomorrow, you're not falling asleep during that while I have to feel them coming out."

"You're not supposed to feel anything." Vlad reminded her.

Erin shook her head, "He said that I won't feel 'most' of it. It's the rest that I'm worried about."

Vlad grinned and kissed her forehead, "You'll be fine."

Erin began to lead him from the room, tugging his hand lightly before she paused in the doorway looking left and right.

Vlad immediately started to worry. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know where you room is." She admitted making him chuckle. Vlad laced their fingers together more tightly. He was just about to step out of the hall when a figure skidded to a halt in front of him.

"Mistress Erin's parents want a word with you Master Vlad."

The coffin would have to wait.

TBC

_A/N: What do you think?_

_I hope no one minded me creating part of a back-story for Bertrand._

_Thanks for reading._


	25. Coffin

A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1A slightly longer chapter for you tonight…

_I just want to check everyone's opinion before I make it official:_

_Do you want the final part set immediately after or a few years time?_

Chapter 25: Coffin

The Nobles were talking quietly when Vlad and Erin arrived in the room, for the first time in days they didn't seem to be having a heated discussion.

"You wanted a word?" It wasn't so much a question as it was a demand. Vlad really didn't want to face Erin's parents at the moment.

"Is it true they'll execute you if you don't find that contract?" Steph asked quietly, she didn't want this to be a ruse that they'd fall for and regret later on.

Vlad held their gaze, "Yeah." Erin squeezed his fingers. It wasn't his fault this was happening, she hoped it didn't cross his mind. "I bit Erin before I was legally allowed to, there's a loophole that if she's claimed she can be bitten to save her life. The Council are ignoring that."

"You got yourselves into this mess." Thomas spoke defiantly, unable to help himself.

Vlad's jaw tightened and his nose twitched slightly, "If you hadn't arranged a marriage with Andrew Hartleigh none of this would have happened. Erin wouldn't have been staked and I wouldn't have had to transform her."

"She saved a vampire! She betrayed the Slayers Guild!"

"She wouldn't have gotten to know one if you hadn't turned your back on your son!" Vlad argued back. They weren't going to push all the blame onto Erin.

"Who was it that bit my son?"

"STOP IT NOW!" Erin yelled shutting up both Vlad and her father in one go. Vlad gave her an apologetic look and Erin nodded telling him it was okay. "Even if I hadn't met Vlad, you would have pushed me into an arranged marriage. I'm happy with Vlad even if you don't understand it." That was going to be the last time Erin said it, it was becoming like a broken record.

"Its about time you grew up Thomas!" Steph shouted angrily at her husband making Vlad and Erin gape at her. She gestured with her hand towards Erin, "Can't you just for once ignore your pride and see that Erin is happy for the first time in her life?"

"She was happy before…"

Steph shook her head vehemently, her eyes blazing with fury as she looked at him, "Erin was *never* happy being one of us. It was you who cared more about the past than our daughter's future." She took a breath meeting Erin's questioning gaze, "I'm not losing my daughter because you can't see what's in front of you. Erin has made her choice and I'm not going to go against it."

Thomas sighed and nodded, "Its not like the Noble line will continue as slayers anymore."

"They'll be heirs to Vlad's throne." Erin told her parents proudly. She'd taken a step up the ladder like they'd always wanted her to but for the opposite side.

"When I share my power with Erin…"

"*If*." She corrected automatically. She still didn't want him to lose that much power to her.

"*When*," He began loudly before dropping his voice, "I share my power, it'll make the Council useless. They won't have any power or authority or even exist until I put a new power structure in place." Vlad didn't want the Council remaining in power, he didn't trust them. "They want to make sure they don't lose their power."

Steph looked at Vlad in amazement, he seemed firm that he was going to give Erin half of his power, a former slayer, a woman and a half fang. The rest of his culture would be outraged but he didn't care. She truly saw how much he loved their daughter to want to give her that even if Erin didn't want it.

"So they want to get rid of the one person who can disband them."

"Yeah." Vlad straightened looking at the clock. Steph studied him the young vampire looked tired, he seemed older in his tired state. Their daughter didn't look much better. "What did you want anyway?"

Thomas looked down for a few moments, Steph hit him hard in the ribs making him wince. "We want to help."

Vlad scoffed at that, "You tried to slay me and force your daughter into an arranged marriage! Why should I trust you? You'd slay me at a moments notice."

"If we'd, I'd," He corrected, seeing the freezing glares sent his way by the others. "Listened to how she felt about you and realised that it wasn't a crush or hypnotism…"

"You did know but you did it anyway." Vlad pointed out, he wasn't a goldfish – he didn't have a short memory about things that were important to him.

"Look I'm sorry." Thomas eventually told the young vampire. "She's picked you over everything even her own family." That cut him to the core that Erin felt that the Draculas were more of her true family than her own biological parents. "You've never forced her to do anything unless its to protect her…"

"Even then she doesn't listen." Vlad couldn't help himself; it slipped out earning him a strong pinch from Erin. Steph let out a small laugh as the vampire let out a small hiss of pain, Erin gave him a smug smirk and he narrowed his eyes playfully at her.

Steph tried again, "We want to help you, prove to Erin that we do love her like we're supposed to." Vlad looked at Erin but her face had a blank mask across it. She wasn't giving anything away.

"How do I know you won't slay me and my family?" He asked them, his eyes searching theirs.

"You don't, but I promise I just want Erin safe. You saved her life before, we should have done that in the first place. Let us try."

Vlad's eyes narrowed as he threw out his mind, searching theirs. He nodded slowly, reluctantly allowing them to help them as he realised they were telling the truth. He searched their persons and destroyed any form of communication devices with his mind even though they were turned off, he wasn't going to chance anything.

"One hint that you're going to hurt anyone then I won't hesitate to hand you back to Jonno or bite you myself."

The Nobles nodded seeing that he was perfectly serious. They now knew he didn't drink blood, for him to say that gave them an idea of how he felt.

"There's plenty of rooms here, most of them have coffins though. Find one and you can stay there tonight." He half ordered.

Steph gave him a smile and reached out to touch him but he jumped back, "Thank you…"

"Don't make me regret it." They shook their heads before walking quickly from the room.

"Was that the right thing to do?" Erin asked him softly.

"I don't know." He admitted, his eyes following them as they left. "I can't leave them sitting around here all day though." He told her.

Erin pulled on his hand, remembering that they were supposed to be going to bed… coffin. Vlad followed her lead, they'd almost reached the door when something blurred in front of him.

YEKNODELTTILYEKNODELTTIL

Erin blinked at Becky, she'd never seen the dark skinned beauty move that fast.

"This is really all yours?" Becky whispered, impressed at the manor Vlad owned. "This is going to be your palace?"

Vlad bristled at the use of the word 'palace'. "I didn't think anyone your age was able to afford something like this, regardless of being a vampire."

"Dad had to wait a long time for me to be born. It built up. I've never mentioned it to anyone before." He added the final part after seeing the accusatory look that was sent Erin's way. "Not even Erin."

"So your Betrothal Ball, am I going to be invited?"

'_Unfortunately,'_ was the answer that was broadcast into his mind making him look at Erin. Seeing the way she ducked her head he knew the though definitely came from her. He felt exactly the same though.

"Yeah, you're a friend of Erin's." 'Friend' was used in its loosest sense here, "Who better to help celebrate mine and Erin's engagement."

Becky's face darkened at Vlad's not so subtle reminder. "Why are you marrying her again?"

Vlad's answer was automatic, "Because I love her and I want to. I don't want anyone else for my Queen." Erin melted as he spoke so confidently, he was now fully confident of how he felt towards her and she loved that fact.

Becky spluttered a few times before finding something to say, "But…"

Vlad turned to his breather friend, "Robin…" His eyes were closed slightly as he spoke. When he didn't hear any noise from his usually clumsy friend he looked up and saw that he'd vanished from the room leaving them to deal with Becky. Coward. Then again Robin might have left before not that he blamed him, they were all tired. He decided to try another tactic. "RENFIELD!"

Within seconds Renfield was in the room," Renfield, show Becky to her room and make sure she's safe."

Becky looked at Vlad with wide eyes, she didn't want to be shown to her room by that disgusting butler. She sent Vlad a panicked glare but he didn't notice that or he was ignoring her.

Renfield nodded, understanding the secret meaning – make sure she's locked in until morning. "Yes Master Vlad."

Becky watched Vlad over her shoulder as she was 'escorted' from the room. Vlad chanced a glance at Erin seeing the dark expression on her face. Erin's explosions didn't usually last long but it would be better if they were out the way when they did.

YEKNODELTTILYEKNODELTTIL

Vlad led Erin into his room, Erin didn't really look at the décor she just started pacing in the middle of the room. He'd been expecting this throughout the walk down the corridors. He was amazed it had taken her this long.

Vlad walked over to the large walk in wardrobe and pulled some things off the hangers. He was glad he'd started transferring and buying some more clothes for this place now. He knew he'd be moving in soon so he wanted to be properly prepared. Erin would have to wear some of his things for now; Ingrid would probably find something from somewhere. She always seemed to have contacts when she needed clothes.

His room was about the size of the throne room at the school, well that and the foyer added in. He had a double coffin and a complete wall of trinkets and books that he'd managed to acquire and send across to his manor before Renfield or his father could 'accidentally' destroy them. There was a desk at one end, a wide, wooden Georgian desk. It had been part of the manor and Vlad had liked it. The drapes in his room were deep, crimson red. They were thick so they would block out the light completely if the UV coating should ever flake off. Lastly in the corner of the room was a refrigerator with soy blood stocked in it.

"She practically accused me of being a gold digger!" Erin protested angrily peeling off her t-shirt and accepting the one Vlad handed out to her. She stuffed it over her head, yanking it down. She snatched the pair of tracksuit bottoms off him as well and slipped them on.

"She was only doing that to wind you up." He told her, they knew what Becky was like, she couldn't help herself.

"I didn't even know about this place until you told me, sorry your dad, told me about it." Vlad still felt a little ashamed for not telling her about this place. He gave her a sheepish look.

She closed her eyes relishing the feel of clean clothes on her, then she realised she didn't want to get them dirty with the grease and grime all over her.

"Have you got showers here? Working ones I mean." She clarified.

Vlad pointed to a door at the end of his room, "Through there."

Erin gave him a grateful smile and darted towards the bathroom. It would relax her and hopefully clam her down over what Becky had said.

As soon as she entered the bathroom she was amazed at how white it was. There were many brilliant white tiles, the floor was slightly rough to give her a grip. There was a large cast iron bath across the far wall and a large shower next to it. Erin longed to use the bath but she wanted to get clean quicker.

Across the opposite wall was the toilet and washbasin.

Erin shed her clean clothes and grabbed a towel from the rack, her fingers lingered on it as she felt the softness beneath her fingers. After a few moments she placed it within easy reach before darting into the shower and turning it on. Washing away the dirt and grime that had built up over the last few days.

YEKNODELTTILYEKNODELTTIL

Erin was finishing drying her hair when Vlad emerged from the bathroom, rubbing his hair with the towel. Erin smiled at the sight of him with his hair plastered to his head. His t-shirt was clinging to his wet skin in all the right places; she would have blushed when she was a breather. Vlad leaned down and brushed her lips against his languidly letting their tongues brush against each other lazily.

Vlad pulled back and Erin rested her forehead against his chest.

Erin paused as she realised something, "It's a bigger coffin." She looked at him slightly nervously, they'd spoken about it but she'd never shared one with him before.

Vlad looked down at the coffin, it had been an intentional buy at sixteen, he had hated the claustrophobic feel of the coffins when he first transformed. The bigger the coffin, the better for him in the opinion of his sixteen year old self. This had been his original coffin until he'd realised it wouldn't fit in his room and had it shipped here instead.

"It's more padded and more comfortable than the one you slept in." Vlad clicked his fingers and the coffin opened so Erin could see the inside. She lowered herself down and gently squeezed the material. A smile crossed her face at the way it bent and moulded under her fingers.

"How do I…?" She trailed off unsure what exactly to ask. It wasn't like sleeping in a bed, it was completely different and the lid would have to be closed too.

Vlad climbed into the coffin and gestured for Erin to climb in as well. Erin sat down but didn't lower her head immediately, she remained sitting. She looked nervously at him but he opened his arms for her and she lay down.

This was more nerve racking than sharing a bed, she was convinced of that. As she lay down she realised Vlad was right, this coffin was more comfortable than hers and it was more comfortable than her bed.

Vlad went to click his fingers, Erin grabbed his hand. "Can we not close it tonight?" She let go of his hand, dropping her arm so it rested across his stomach.

Vlad nodded before wrapping his arms around her tightly.

"How's the collar bone?" He asked her quietly, tracing a small pattern on it.

"Just aching now." He nodded and brushed the softest of kisses across it. She could move it easier but it throbbed.

Erin shifted her weight just a fraction so her head was more comfortably laid on his chest. Vlad kissed her forehead lightly while she kissed his chest.

"Night…" Or day she wasn't sure at the moment.

"Night." He responded before closing his eyes.

Within minutes they both succumbed to sleep.

TBC

_A/N: Thanks for reading_


	26. Entrances and Exits

_A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1._

_Four chapters to go after this…_

_Over the last couple of days I've become more optimistic about typing unfortunately it's still a slow process at the moment but I'm actually looking forward to writing the final instalment of this once more._

_Thank you to Yd rox, Molly and reality slayer the dreamer for making me feel optimistic again about typing YD stories._

_So I think I'm going to keep on typing Young Dracula fics, that's if people would like more stories from me…_

Chapter 26: Entrances and Exits

The throne was deathly quiet but occupied. Everyone stared at the roughly sketched plan of Vlad's manor trying to make heads and tails of it.

Vlad's throne room was three times the size of the one at Garside Grange School, with more comfortable chairs too. There was a gaping hole where his throne was supposed to sit but by law he couldn't have on until his eighteenth birthday, it was a raised platform so he could see above his 'subjects' when he was seated with three small steps to lead up to it. There was enough room for two thrones. The room was filled with light. There was a long narrow oak table stretching twelve feet down the centre of the hall.

At first the Count seemed a little put out that Vlad's throne room was much bigger than he remembered but then he had to admit Vlad's position demanded that his home was to be greater in size than the normal vampire's.

At the moment the vampires stood on one side and the slayers stood on the other. The subconscious divide was still there.

"Is that supposed to be here?" Vlad tipped his head, angling it painfully as he looked at the sloped lines on the diagram, they definitely weren't straight.

"It's the best I could do!" Jonno protested immediately, he didn't think his ground plan was too bad. He had limited resources to work with, google maps and being in the rooms could only do so much, he'd gotten lost three times. As you went further into Vlad's mansion the corridors and rooms began to look more and more similar. The last time he'd climbed out of the window and walked around the school to the front.

"It still looks like a slice of cheese," Ingrid mumbled, to her it looked like a piece of that sliced Edam cheese.

Jonno clenched his fists beginning to get exasperated, "Look are we going to stand here discussing my drawing skills or we can actually start to plan this thing, what are we going to do?"

Wolfie decided to interrupt them, "What looks like cheese?" He poked his nose over the top of the table but he couldn't see the plans, even though he was at his full height and on tiptoes.

"Can we get on?" Jonno shouted. Wolfie looked at him before sticking his tongue out at the slayer and walking away. Ingrid bit her lip to stop laughing at Wolfie's childish reaction although at the moment she didn't blame him.

The room was once more quiet, Jonno looked around the room. Very few of his own kind and the vampires could meet his gaze without looking amused.

"Right," He began a lot more confidently than he sounded. "We need to lure them in, that means drawing them into this hall." Jonno pointed to the largest hall down the twisting and winding corridors. "Hartleigh will station slayers down these corridors where they intersect, that means fewer slayers will be attacking us in the hall."

Erin shook her head, "It means they'll have reinforcements."

"It'll be staggered though," Vlad informed her quietly, "We can't fight them all in one go. It'll be easier in groups." Vlad leaned over the table bracing his hands, glancing at the map for anything they'd missed.

Jonno sighed, "George will be there leading the charge."

"Are you sure?" Vlad asked him, they only needed to get the contract off him and make the slayers listen.

"He's never missed being at the front of a fight before." Thomas answered. Vlad gave him a wary glance and Jonno nodded in agreement. Vlad wasn't in any hurry to trust Erin's parents until they gave him a reason to do so.

"In this hall there are three more exits than the other hall." That made five exits, one in the west, one in the east, two in the north wall and one large door in the south. "They'll make their way using those doors."

"But there's a lot more entrances." Ingrid pointed out, they could block them easier. There were windows and doors.

"Yes but that means there's also a lot more exits. We can't have our kind being pinned in for too long. All we have to do it clear, two?" He looked at Bertrand who nodded, two exits would be plenty for vampires to morph or vanish through. "Exits and then our kind can begin to escape."

Bertrand pointed to the five exits, "Also their defences will be stretched thin trying to protect them, they'll be in small groups. A group protecting each exit and a larger group in the middle attacking the vampires, not to mention groups outside should anyone escape through the main doors."

"They might try and use another UV generator." Ingrid pointed out. "Trap us all inside."

"We destroyed their main one, they wouldn't have had time to built a new one." Vlad reminded her, looking at Jonno who shrugged. He didn't *think* it was possible to build a new one but no one knew what George had been working on. "Besides the UV protective coating on all the windows would filter out all the effects we wouldn't be powerless."

Ingrid nodded, she'd forgotten about the windows. She wasn't used to them.

Vlad studied his sister, Ingrid looked flustered by something. She seemed to look at Bertrand then duck her head back down in embarrassment. It made him all the more curious to know what had happened, and he knew something obviously had from the way she was reacting.

"Are you going to tell them what's going on?" Jonno asked, it was only fair that the vampires should know.

Vlad shook his head, he didn't want the slayers finding out what they had planned. "No, they'll be bait but they won't know it. The Hartleighs should have been accidentally informed by now." They'd made sure one invite wasn't as discrete as the others so it was intercepted by Hartleigh's slayers.

Jonno placed a taser on the table, "We've got more of these arriving, we've ordered some and we've also got tranquilliser darts on their way." He informed Vlad of the weapons.

Vlad nodded gravely, "We're not going to bite anyone, hopefully." He looked at his father, Ingrid and Bertrand pointedly as he said that. "But you should carry a stake, just in case one of the other vampires decides to join in and go after the wrong side."

Jonno looked into Vlad's eyes. The Nobles looked at Vlad stunned, he was giving them permission to kill in self-defence. It wasn't an easy decision but he wanted to protect them. "Are you sure?" Jonno wanted to know for certain.

"Yeah." Vlad stood fully, his back cracking as he did. "I think that's everything." They all nodded. "So all we have to do now is make sure everything is in place… easy."

It sounded easier than it looked.

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"I don't know where you're going." The Count called to Erin and Vlad as he threw himself down into the chair with a bang making those around him jump. "You need to plan your Betrothal Ball."

Vlad and Erin turned back as one; they'd been trying to creep out unseen.

"I need to have my stitches out!" Erin protested a little too highly. "And Vlad's supposed to be there with me." She defended including her fiancé in the comment. Vlad sent her a grateful glance and she nodded accepting his thanks.

"Your stitches can wait until you've sorted out a menu. Vampire gourmet, only the best for my Vladdy." Ingrid snorted at that, she wasn't jealous with this one. She wasn't a fan of vampire food either so she knew how her baby brother felt. "So what are you going to serve?" The Count's eyes lit up like a kid at Christmas.

"Fish and chips." Erin muttered under her breath, Vlad coughed and looked down.

"Nonsense, no son of mine is going to have breather food…" Vlad and Erin rolled their eyes at each other, they were perfectly happy with breather food and looking across to Ingrid she was too. "Ocelot, diced eel, slugs, badger noses, chicken brain blancmange…"

Vlad was going to stop him before he got too carried away. "Dad, Erin doesn't eat meat."

The Count gave Erin a wide-eyed look of outrage before a smirk covered his face as he remembered something. "She ate ocelot." He immediately pointed out. Vlad winced at the memory; Erin hadn't eaten it she'd tossed it onto his plate every single time. Vlad only wished he had someone he could have done the same to.

"Actually I had her portion each time." Vlad admitted to him.

"She did that without me finding out?" Erin looked down as she expected to be scolded. The Count surprised her by placing a soft kiss to her forehead, "I'm impressed."

Vlad rolled his eyes at the 'compliment', Erin looked at him and he just shrugged.

"But you have to have these things…" His voice came out more of a worried protest than a whine and it had alarm bells ringing in Vlad's head.

The Count's eyes twitched nervously, Vlad picked up on it immediately despite his father's attempts to hide it. "What have you done?" He questioned politely but with no room for discussion.

"I may have given Renfield the menu without checking with you."

Vlad didn't feel like shouting or losing his temper, he just let out a resigned sigh and nodded, "Fine." He glanced at Erin who shrugged, she'd go along with him. They'd never hear the end of it if they didn't have vampire food, they'd just have to make sure they were filled with soy blood for the evening instead to keep their hunger at bay "Do whatever you want with the food. Saves us a job, for now we're going to…"

Vlad tried again to leave, but a firm hand clamped down on his back. "If you want to best Hartleigh you're going to train."

Vlad groaned and Erin shook her head, at least she was free to do whatever she wanted – until Renfield insisted on pulling her stitches out.

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Training had been a lot more intense than usual with Bertrand deliberately trying new tactics and moves to get him to think quicker and quicker each time. It had worked for a while until Bertrand had declared he had something to do and ended the lesson. Vlad found that was strange considering Bertrand seemed to value training above everything else.

In the last twelve hours Bertrand had seemed more relaxed for some reason and that was making him feel nervous, a happy and relaxed Bertrand always had him worrying.

Vlad looked around the library; Erin seemed small in the massive room. She glanced up at him as he moved across to her. She seemed unaware that he was even in the same room as her, he smiled to himself and looked over her shoulder.

She seemed too engrossed in the book. He looked at the title printed on the top of the page, in the centre, throughout the book. He shook his head. Out of all the books in the library, trust her to find that one. He didn't even have a clue where the alphabet started in this library. The pages yellowed with age making it easier for her to read.

"You know I hate that play now, right?" Romeo and Juliet had become a little bit too literal for his tastes recently.

Erin jumped a foot in the air, banging her legs on the table. She rubbed them thankful she didn't bruise anymore.

She looked apologetic as she looked at the book, "I didn't think you'd mind…" She began but he cut her off with a wave of his hand.

"Its your home too… that's if you want it to be." He finished quietly, before looking at her expressionless face. "Do you want it to be?"

TBC

_A/N: What do you think?_

_Do you want the final part set immediately after or a few years time?_

_Thanks for reading._


	27. Nothing

_A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1._

_I have the feeling I've forgotten something someone asked me for but I can't think what._

_If you think I might have forgotten anything please let me know…_

Chapter 27: Nothing

As the seconds ticked by, Vlad was growing more and more afraid of her answer.

"You don't have to like it," He gabbled out at her, he didn't want to pressure her into this.

Erin gave him a small smile; while Vlad had been training she'd take the opportunity to look around his manor.

It was a lot bigger than she was used to, there were a lot of rooms. Guest rooms, halls, a library, a study, large open grounds and a well equipped training room – obviously for when his job got out of hand and he needed to blow off steam. One room was a museum of sorts but she didn't think Vlad knew about that yet, it wasn't something that he'd really be bothered with when he was sixteen.

He shuffled nervously in front of her.

"We can chose another one together and…"

Wordlessly Erin stood; she placed a finger to his lips cutting him off completely. "Its big, you can get lost in it easily and I've never lived in a place like this but…" She drew out slowly, "Its 'Vlad'." She smiled at him. The whole building seemed to fit him perfectly. It wasn't overly flashy or posh and it wasn't gothic like his home at the school

"Is that a yes, you want to live here or a no, you don't?"

"You need to go through this place and decide what you do and don't want, not to mention adding more technology to it." She gestured to the Stone Age computer in the corner of the room.

Vlad wanted technology in his future home, he didn't want to constantly live in the seventeenth century. Being a modern vampire meant knowing and using all the modern human technology.

Vlad decided to speak around her finger, "You still haven't answered…"

"I love it here Vlad." Erin told him. She genuinely did, it had a homely atmosphere and she loved that. Vlad had only been there once before but she could see herself living there with him.

Vlad swooped down and spun her around, Erin giggled as she buried her head into his shoulder.

He set her down suddenly, a thought crossing his mind, "Are you sure?" He checked.

"Yeah." Erin pressed a gentle kiss to his jaw,

"So do you want to live with me here before the mating?" She still had a right to refuse. She could live in one of the wings of the manor if she didn't want to share a room with him.

Erin threw the ball back in his court, she'd love to but she wanted him to be sure this time. "If you want me to."

He nodded frantically, blinking as he did so, "Yeah, sure."

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Bertrand hit the punch bag in succession, with sort sharp jabs with the sides of the wooden lance.

Bertrand heard the clicking of heels on the floor and smiled to himself but he didn't stop. "Still training then?" He hit the bag one more time before stopping and turning towards her.

"Never stop." He twirled the lance around in his fingers, he missed his practice sword but this was the only thing that he could use at the moment. Bertrand moved towards her slowly and Ingrid watched him not moving.

He saw she didn't move so he stepped into her personal space. Ingrid tipped her head up curiously at the older vampire, she often forgot about the age gap between them at times like this.

Bertrand saw his chance and ducked his head down before she could protest brushing his lips gently against hers.

Ingrid let out a gasp as she felt a jolt and immediately grabbed his shirt and screwed it up in her fists holding him close.

She'd never felt that spark with Will when he'd kissed her. The spark that was flowing through her body made her feel warm for the first time in four years, she was tingling all over at the sensations.

With that sensation she was brought firmly back to earth before Bertrand could deepen the kiss.

Ingrid pulled back and sped across the room. "What the hell was that?" She screamed at him.

"I kissed you." He sounded a fraction too smug for her tastes.

Her face was outraged. "Why?"

"You kissed me first." He reminded her of her kissing him on the cheek.

Ingrid looked down as she answered, "That was just a thank you for not shouting at Wolfie."

"You're lying." He answered, folding his arms firmly across his chest.

"It meant nothing, I can't love two people at the same time. Will is still the one I wanted to spend my life with." She told him ignoring the way his expression hardened as she spoke. "Vlad kissed Erin and it didn't mean anything so why should kissing you on the cheek mean anything?" Ingrid snapped at him angrily.

Bertrand wasn't going to accept that. "Vlad loved Erin even back then. You honestly thought their kiss meant nothing? They went on a date afterwards!" 'Tried' was the correct word really.

"He was trying to save her life!"

"But you played on how they felt. Have you ever told Vlad why Erin ended up being the sacrifice?" Bertrand knew more about this than Ingrid knew, her jaw dropped at his little threat, well it wasn't a threat - more of an angry remark.

Ingrid never wanted Vlad to find out that she was the one who'd recommended Erin for sacrifice. It was fine when he knew she was trying to kill her but if he found out she'd manipulated his emotions when she said he had to kiss her then she couldn't stand his disappointment in her or his revenge. She hadn't noticed at the time but she'd turned into their mother, she'd become every bit as manipulative as her. She wasn't proud of it.

"If it was anything it was a thank you kiss. Nothing more! I don't feel anything for you!" If she was human she would have been a very deep purple in her anger. How dare he challenged her and her feelings? She knew how she felt better than anyone.

"Fine if that's how you feel." Bertrand told her firmly picking up his lance.

"It is!" She shouted at him. No man was going to tell her how she felt.

"Answer me one thing…" Bertrand began slowly. In her anger Ingrid didn't think about what he could ask. "When was the last time you thought about him? And not as a defence or a comparison. When was the last time you really thought about him?"

Ingrid opened and closed her mouth a few times, how was she expected to remember when he was pressuring her to? "That's none of your flapping business!"

His voice was carefully even. "Thought so."

She let out a small scream and walked across to him. "You are Vlad's tutor, a tutor he won't need in two weeks as far as I'm concerned it couldn't come quick enough." She invaded his personal space and hit his chest furiously with every word she spoke next, "I. Couldn't. Care. Less!"

With that she turned on her heel and stomped from the room.

Ingrid winced at the sharpness he hit the bag with as she left the room.

She heard the prolonged crack as the wooden lance split in half then the echoing clatter as he dropped it to the floor, rolling away from him.

However Ingrid was determined not to let it affect her.

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Ingrid glared up at the door as she heard a shallow knock, she fully expected to see Bertrand ready to tear a strip from her but she was confused as she saw Erin hovering there.

Ingrid tipped her head giving her a curious look, Erin looked slightly nervous.

"What do you want?" She asked, she didn't mean it to come across so rude but her talk with Bertrand had rattled her.

"I was going to ask you to help me." Erin spoke quietly.

Ingrid folded her arms over her chest, Erin rarely asked for help. If she was asking then she really was struggling with something. "Go on."

"How do I get hold of formal wear?"

"What kind of formal wear?" Ingrid was curious now.

Erin looked down, she'd never really been a girly girl either so this was going to be difficult on that level too. "For the Ball."

Ingrid smiled softly; Erin had a lot to learn.

TBC

_A/N: Thanks for reading._


	28. Back

_A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1._

_Only two chapters to go after this…_

_I'd like to say thank you for all your wonderful support during my difficult time. I really came close to giving up completely._

_I usually don't 'run away' but it hit a little too close to home. I managed to sort it all out but feelings is caused were hard to ignore even afterwards. So thank you for bearing with me while I weighed the decision in my mind and through my even more erratic posts._

_I will be writing more fics, I have three mapped out so far. _

_If anyone has something specific they'd like me to write about let me know and I'll try my best, although I should warn you I do alter and tweak some things to make them fit and add subplots._

Chapter 28: Back

Vlad tugged on his collar nervously while Robin bounced from foot to foot beside him. He had plain formal leatherwear this time. He wanted to make sure he was fully armoured for when the slayers attacked, the worst part wasn't the knowing of their attack it was the waiting. It could happen at any minute.

"This is awesome, a real vampire feast and I'm not bait." He grinned nodding his head emphatically. Vlad rolled his eyes at Robin's typical reaction. That reminded him… he cast a look to his right directly at Chloe, although he kept his expression cold. Chloe was looking more apologetic again but he wasn't having any of it. "What are we waiting for?"

Just as Vlad was about to answer something blurred in front of him, "Sorry." Erin whispered as Robin pressed a hand to his chest after Erin having made him jump.

Vlad looked at Erin closely, she was immaculately dressed in a long flowing dress. The bust was made of leather and the skirt was made of the finest black silk. The top as high necked with laced down the back, completely plain and covered her arms. Her scar was visible. The skirt trailed along the floor, meeting the bodice with a small black belt. Her cloak was plain and draped around her shoulders; she couldn't wear a crest until she officially joined his clan. Ingrid had obviously done her make up and given her a smouldering look.

"You look brilliant. More of a vampire than Vlad ever did." Erin chuckled at Robin's backhanded compliment. Vlad ignored it with only the slightest of twitches of his head.

"You look amazing." Vlad whispered and Erin ducked her head down.

Erin looked at him, dressed in plain leathers. He looked more comfortable in them than his usual ones. She grinned as she noticed his head was held high. "You too."

Vlad took her hand and laced their fingers together.

"Are you ready?" Erin nodded affirmative and Vlad clicked open the doors and they entered the hall crowded with every clan leader and their eldest son and/or daughter.

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The hall had been decorated in black and red. Red was Vlad's choice the black had been all that was 'left' when the red had run out. Vlad knew there was enough red but half of it had mysteriously disappeared. It hadn't escaped his notice the impromptu bonfire that day either.

The tables were on the outskirts of the hall leaving the centre free for the fight that would inevitably follow. Obstacles meant either side could have casualties. A small band were on the throne platform, Vlad hadn't been looking forward to the dancing but he knew it was inevitable.

He'd been forced to dance with all the women in the room – vampire women that it. He'd whizzed through them as quickly as possible. Now he was taking a break from the dancing to have a goblet of soy blood.

The Count had announced what the evening was in honour of formally before the festivities began but Vlad hadn't really been paying attention.

The Count clapped his son on the back; Vlad wasn't prepared for it and stumbled forward a few steps ahead, nearly spilling the soy blood from Vlad's hands.

"Erin looks beautiful." He complimented his future daughter in law. Vlad nodded. She had seemed to fit in amongst them. By not hiding her scar she'd somehow endeared herself to them.

"She always does." Then Vlad winced as he realised how cheesy that sounded.

"Your Uncle Ivan can't be here but he sends his congratulations. Some form of business or something."

Vlad let out a small sigh of relief at that. Ivan could be a nightmare in the hunt for blood but he could be worse with it inside him. The only way he could describe it was as if Ivan was drunk on the taste of the blood.

"Besides its not worth him coming for only one night."

"He stayed weeks before when it came to Boris' birthday."

"That was because we had the mirror and he had a wimp for a son. He needed a bit of discipline and toughening up." The Count shrugged off, Vlad might never have wanted to drink human blood but at least he wasn't a wimp.

"And that worked really well last time." Vlad muttered sarcastically. The wimp had turned into a nightmare.

"Who's Boris?" A voice asked them curiously from behind.

"Vlad's former cousin." The Count told her.

Erin was beginning to understand; Vlad hadn't said his name before. "The one who killed the Grand High Vampire?"

"That's the one." Vlad nodded, before handing her a cup of soy blood. He was supposed to give it to her ten minutes ago. That was before a vampire had insisted on dancing with her, which turned into two then three... So much for her being looked down upon for being a half fang. Vlad felt extremely lucky that he'd been the one she'd chosen.

Erin hid a smirk as she watched Ingrid's jaw tighten as Bertrand was flogged by adoring vampiresses. Obviously the vampiresses thought Bertrand would have power being close to Vlad. Vlad treated him as an advisor of sorts but he was careful about who he handed power out to.

Erin nudged Vlad and he followed her gaze watching his sister carefully. "What happened?" He asked.

Erin smirked as she knew more, she was surprised that Ingrid had even opened up to her but she wondered if all Ingrid wanted was a female vampire friend. "Bertrand kissed her."

"What did Ingrid do?" Vlad asked, it had been a long time in coming.

"What do you think she did? She ran away from it."

"He. Kissed. My. Daughter?" The Count drew out threateningly, punctuating each word with a blink. "Without my permission?"

Vlad shook his head, his father was showing how protective he could be of Ingrid. Usually the Count wouldn't have cared but after what Erin had been put through he became more open at times in expressing his affection for Ingrid. Although Bertrand wasn't the worst Ingrid could do.

"Dad leave them alone. They keep each other out of trouble and that has its advantages." Usually they could easily foil each other's plans and that worked to his advantage.

"He hasn't asked for my permission to court her…"

"It isn't courtship, not every vampire relationship has a marriage at the end. Look at you and mum." That was a sore point but it got Vlad's message across. "Let them sort it out." Vlad said that as a small prayer, he hoped they sorted it out before it actually became a problem for them all.

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Vlad looked across the room sensing… something. His instincts were right as he saw Baylor and Mikhail heading towards him, he hadn't seen them arrive but they always skulked in the shadows where they could listen in on conversations and use them to their advantage.

"I didn't think you had the guts Dracula," Baylor grinned at Vlad. It wasn't a genuine grin there was something behind those perfectly white teeth that had Vlad on edge.

"Guts for what?" Vlad was going to play ignorant.

"Holding a Betrothal Ball considering you don't have the proof."

"We were always going to hold it today. All part of making it public." He smiled falsely at them. He watched as they searched his eyes, Bertrand had insisted on making him practice lying. He'd managed to fool everyone – expect Erin. She always knew when he was lying, he had a tell sign – the way his eyes pulled slightly to the right. Bertrand had banned her from the room after she'd managed to point out every lie correctly.

Bertrand really had been a sore loser that day.

Vlad looked behind them and saw Erin being pinned by Mikhail's daughter Loria. "If you'll excuse me Loria's harassing my future bride."

Mikhail bristled at that comment and Vlad bit back a smirk.

"Yes your highness."

If they wanted him to retaliate it wouldn't work. He was ready for them.

Mikhail lifted a hand to his chin, scratching it lightly. "He has something planned."

Baylor nodded, even he could see Vlad had something up his sleeve. "Do you want us to…"

Mikhail lifted a hand cutting him off. "Wait until we see if what the young one has planned actually works."

"If it does…?"

"Do you think it will?" Mikhail shook his head, he was sure of his answer.

"He's determined, but he doesn't have a clue. He'll get himself slain before it's pulled off." Baylor didn't think the young vampire knew what he was doing. "What do you want me to tell Jorgen?"

Mikhail turned to him. "To hold off until we're sure this fails."

Baylor smirked before nodding. Whatever the Chosen One had planned he wouldn't succeed at.

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Erin found herself cornered by a fair haired, beautiful vampire. Her hair was piled ornately on the top of her head, her dress was made of the finest silks. Her blue eyes were freezing cold as she looked

"Didn't you sign a contract?" Loria asked her, glancing behind her towards Vlad. "That's the only way he'd mate with a half fang."

"There was a contract, yes but it was more about making it public. Vlad asked me to be his mate weeks before."

Loria deliberately looked confused, "Oh so it wasn't from feeling guilty from creating you."

"Vlad saved my life." Erin knew he never wanted to do it until he had to.

"A true vampire wouldn't have a half fang… he'd have a true vampire as a mate. He needs someone who knows about his culture, you know nothing!" That comment was harsh. It wasn't about knowing about their culture it was more about knowing Vlad. Knowing when to push him or rein him in when he went too far, when he needed advice or someone to talk to. It wasn't about being a vampire because Vlad wasn't an ordinary vampire.

"Vampire culture…"

"After all it's just a business deal isn't it? Not like there's any real feelings involved."

All thoughts of the plan flew from Erin's mind and she dashed from the room before she did something she'd regret, her emotions still weren't under complete control.

She wanted to be alone for five minutes.

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Vlad didn't reach Erin and Loria until after she'd fled the room. He immediately went after her because he loved her and he didn't want her being hurt if Hartleigh decided to attack while she was on his own.

Vlad found her in the corridor, seemingly studying one of the paintings that was on Vlad's list to be got rid of. It was a portrait of one of the ancestors of the original owners of the manor.

"Erin?" Vlad asked quietly from behind her.

Erin wiped her eyes but not before Vlad saw her, he could tell from the way her arms moved.

"What's wrong?" He asked her quietly hugging her from behind. Erin sighed and enjoyed his embrace.

"Nothing," She whispered back to him.

Vlad moved away from her and slowly turned her around in his arms. He looked at her seeing her puffy eyes. He wiped the remaining streams of water from her face.

"Getting back the contract sets it in stone Vlad, when you show the contract to everyone this whole engagement becomes nothing more than a business deal again." Vlad could see that she was worried he'd marry her from obligation. He also wondered what Loria had said to her exactly.

Vlad lifted her chin up so she met his gaze although her eyes darted back and forth, "Erin this has never been a business deal to me." He ran a hand through his hair. "Do you remember what I told you? About vampires and dating?" Erin cast her mind back, trying to grab onto the memories.

"You don't date…" She remembered vaguely.

Vlad nodded, "When we do date, its usually the person we marry." Vlad stroked along her cheek slowly, Erin leaned into his touch. "Erin I'm not going to mate with you because of my culture or because some contract tells me I have to. I want to mate with you because I love you and I don't want anyone else." He took a breath. "Children are natural, we have children when you're ready and not before. I don't care if we wait a thousand years just as long as you're okay with it. I bit you to save you so that was fulfilled. The last part is the part I want to stick to."

"Twenty one?" She asked him quietly,

Vlad nodded slowly, "A mating at eighteen isn't heard of in my culture anymore, marriages at eighteen happen but never a mating." Erin was of marrying and mating age in his culture but he wasn't yet. She only had to be older than sixteen he had to wait until he was eighteen. "Mating is permanent Erin, it can't be regretted. I want to give you change to change your mind, get used to living with me before that happens."

"We're too young?" She asked, vampires lived forever so she could understand why they felt that way. A mating was permanent and couldn't be undone if it was considered a mistake.

"Yeah." Vlad looked down, taking her hands in his, "I want to make sure that you know everything about my culture for when you become Queen," She opened her mouth to protest, "Even if its in title only." He finished. "I don't want anyone taking advantage of you."

Vlad could wait as long as she wanted him to.

"You've got to be the sweetest vampire." She whispered kissing his jaw lightly. Vlad captured her lips as she pulled back, cupping her neck softly and drawing her to him. Erin wrapped her arms around his waist, it still hurt to lift her left arm up.

Erin pulled back and tipped her forehead down licking her lips lightly. "Love you."

"Love you too." Vlad looked up, "We'd better get back in before someone comes out… or in."

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They'd just stepped into the hall when Vlad jumped as he heard radios crackle and pop, thankfully no one noticed in the hall. The deliberately didn't send any radio signals just in case Hartleigh had turned into the same frequency to monitor their communications.

That signal meant that the slayers had arrived, that gave them five minutes tops before Hartleigh burst in leading the charge.

Vlad looked across to Ingrid who was now being chatted to by some male slayers so it was Bertrand's turn to glare after her. From the small smirk on her lips Vlad knew she was doing it to irritate him. He sent a telepathic message making them both jump to be on their guard.

Vlad looked across at the Nobles who nodded to signal that they were ready. He looked at Robin who was ready as well. The Count tipped his head.

Each made sure they were well away from the doors as they prepared themselves for the confrontation. Each slipped off their cloaks dropping them into the corners of the room. They couldn't fight in cloaks.

Erin pulled of the skirt of her dress, undoing the three clasps at the top of her first and it came away easily. Vlad smirked as he saw the leather trousers underneath. She threw it in the corner.

"Wondered how you were planning to fight in that." He grinned at her.

Erin couldn't take all the credit though, "Ingrid's idea."

Vlad heard Jonno's quiet whisper; the young slayer knew Vlad would hear. "We've got a problem… he's not at the front… he's at the back."

For the plan to work it depended on George leading the charge…

There was no plan B.

TBC

_A/N: What do you think?_

_Do you think I've forgotten to put anything in?_

_Thanks for reading._


	29. Split

_A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1._

One chapter after this…

_When I post the final part I'll add an A/N to this fic._

_The new fic is planned out so hopefully it will be interesting. I'm aiming for something that hopefully no one's considered before…_

Chapter 29: Split

The Count saw the concerned expressions on Erin's and Vlad's face, without thinking he sped across the room to rest in front of them.

Bertrand and Ingrid copied his actions not that it mattered anymore.

"What's wrong?" The question was filled with worry.

"Hartleigh is at the back not the front."

Being at the back meant facing wave after wave of slayers until he eventually entered the room. Vlad wasn't looking forward to this. Hartleigh obviously wanted to exhaust his opponents so he stood a better chance of slaying them, it was underhand but there wasn't anything they could do about it.

"We could draw them from the hall." Erin suggested, "Make sure they attack another hall."

"Then we won't be protecting the vampires in here." It was a good suggestion but she was forgetting about the bait that had lured them here in the first place.

Robin clicked his fingers; "They'll be using sensors or something right?" He asked.

"Yeah so?"

Robin gave a shrug, "You blew up that ECG machine when you were in hospital…can't you do the same with the sensors? Make them completely blind?"

Ingrid nodded, "It might work, cut them off blind."

"I can't tell which are Jonno's sensors and which are Hartleigh's, they'd all be destroyed."

"But it would split them up. The numbers would be reduced." Bertrand took over Robin's argument, it might work.

Vlad nodded before concentrating, small explosions and screams were heard all around the manor a few seconds later and they knew that tactic had worked.

"Dad, Ingrid, stay with Erin." Erin nodded accepting his word, "Bertrand with me. Robin…" Robin looked at him eagerly. "Make sure you don't get drained." Robin's face was a picture.

Ingrid looked across at Bertrand, never before had they not been with each other in a fight before.

Erin grabbed Vlad's wrist, holding him there. "Where are you going?"

"If Hartleigh won't come in I'll have to go out to get him." Erin relaxed her grip, Vlad couldn't wait for him. They needed this to be over quickly before mistakes were made.

"We're weaker split in half!" The Count told his son; they wouldn't be able to hold off for long.

"This way we deal with Hartleigh quicker. We can't wait." The Count nodded understanding his son's logic.

Erin cupped Vlad's cheek bringing his gaze back to her. "Be careful."

"I will." He promised her. He pulled her close and kissed her firmly, Erin responded fiercely before they pulled apart. It was only a short kiss but it told them everything they needed to know.

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Vlad saw the chunky cylinder before anyone else did, it slid across the floor making a scraping sound. The lights on the cylinder flashed once, twice… if it reached five they'd be paralysed and easy targets.

He doubted that Hartleigh would have more than two.

He threw out his hand, releasing a fireball directly at it and the device exploded in a shower of sparks. His family looked at him nodding as they realised exactly what he had destroyed. Hartleigh wouldn't have a clue what they'd done.

The fireball stopped all the proceedings in the hall. Every vampire turned and faced the Chosen One. Vlad turned towards them to see the understanding of what kind of people could possess one of those devices.

In a matter of moments a number of vampires had vanished from the room, leaving half if that remaining. Vlad didn't blame them though, the recent slayings had upset and devastated their kind. They were down to half of their original number now. They had got the slayers here and that's all Vlad had wanted.

Within seconds of this happening, all hell broke loose in the hall.

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A dozen slayers entered the hall, Andrew Hartleigh heading them. Erin looked around seeing the vampires beginning to pick their targets. She chanced a glance to the side of her to see Vlad flying vertically.

Ingrid had already been targeted by an over eager slayer but she seemed to be enjoying toying with him. That was the only thing Erin was worried about, the vampires underestimating their opponents.

Andrew set his sights on Erin, Erin had anticipated it though. She tipped her head staring at him, giving him a slightly smug smile, the kind that just revealed the points of her fangs.

"I'm going to enjoy this," He whispered looking at her with a smirk.

"Not as much as I will." Erin answered. She wanted to teach him a lesson, so badly. He deserved to be humiliated once more.

Andrew froze at her comment, before his nose twitched in anger and he dove towards her. Erin had expected it and easily darted out of the way until she was behind him. He looked blindly searching for her. Bertrand hadn't had time to give her proper training but she'd seen Vlad practice and she had her slayer training to learn from.

Andrew tried to attack her again, this time with his arms. Erin safely ducked underneath and landed her own blow to his jaw. It sent a jolt up to her aching collarbone, but she knew it was worth it. Andrew's jaw jolted to the side and she thought she heard a crack. She hadn't broken his jawbone but she had a feeling she'd broken a few of his teeth. She would never have been able to do that with the weaker strength she had as a breather.

Erin shoved him in the back and he stumbled forwards, trying to gain his balance. Those few seconds gave her a chance to shake her hand to get rid of the pain in it.

As he spun she caught the scent of his blood, she nearly gagged at the foul stench. How other vampires could find this alluring she didn't know. His blood was the worst thing she'd ever smelled, taking the top position on her list of worst smells.

"Your problem is that you can't handle it when a girl doesn't fall at your feet. I bet it doesn't happen very often." Erin told him, she wasn't even trying hard to dodge. His anger was making his movements sloppy.

"Only ones who love vampires." She was the first obviously, that's why his anger was directed solely at her.

Andrew aimed a punch for her abdomen, directly over her wound. Erin wasn't prepared for a blow that low down and gasped as it hit her there. Pain filled her lower torso. She was still sore from the wound, the stitches had been removed in a long session with Renfield, only a few of the stitches had hurt when they were removed but it was still bad enough.

Erin's eyes turned black at his underhand tactic and she launched herself at him, shoving him as hard as she could into the opposite wall. His face impacted against the panelling drawing blood. Erin shouldn't have taken pride in it but she did.

Andrew ducked down before Erin could hit him again, kicking her legs out from underneath her. Erin cursed herself for letting her emotions get the better of her in those brief few seconds.

He wrapped his hands around her throat his grip tightening. Then he realised something. Vampires didn't breathe. He looked at Erin's perfectly composed face, she smiled at him before kicking him in the groin.

He gasped at the air trying to fill his lungs, desperate for the pain to disappear. He rolled to her side and Erin shoved him off her completely.

He reached around his back for something. Erin knew what it was, although she had an inkling he'd forgotten she was a vampire when he tried to strangle her. She was thankful she never had been forced to marry him in the end.

He drew the stake holding it in front of her. Taunting her with it. He wasn't intimidating instead he just looked pathetic.

Erin kicked her left leg upward sharply and with substantial speed; her foot collided with the side of his head. Andrew looked at her with wide eyes before they closed rapidly and he slumped forwards until he was sprawled across her lower body.

Shuddering Erin kicked him off her. She knew she'd have to shower, every time he touched her she felt soiled.

A hand was extended to her and Erin pulled herself upwards. Erin gave Ingrid a grateful nod before the older vampire vanished back into the fight.

Steph came to her daughter's side. "Go to Vlad." Steph told her daughter firmly, "Help him. I'll watch him."

"Erin." Steph called to her, Erin turned and faced her mother. "I'm sorry for everything."

Erin nodded accepting the apology, it still didn't make everything okay but it was getting there.

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Vlad hadn't literally though that Hartleigh would be outside his manor, but he was there waiting for something. He'd lost Bertrand somewhere inside to deal with the sixth batch of slayers. Hartleigh had anticipated them knowing about his love for leading the charge obviously.

Robin's idea had worked it had forced the slayers to work in groups of three or four. A much more manageable size than what they had initially thought. Although Vlad was surprised that there weren't as many slayers as they had planned for.

He'd ducked and dodged slayers, his jacket had a few nicks in it from where he'd caught it on sharp stakes but nothing had broken the skin. He'd been fast and unfortunately slightly ruthless in his haste to find Hartleigh. A few times he'd slammed slayers against the walls until the slid down unconscious.

Vlad found Hartleigh waiting outside, sharpening his stake slowly and deliberately, blowing away the sawdust as it gathered on the tip. The coward really was waiting for his minions to do all the hard work. Vlad landed quietly behind him

"Waiting for them to finish the hardest part?" Vlad asked quietly.

Hartleigh spun around in surprise, staring at Vlad. Vlad lowered his arms from where he'd crossed them over his chest, if he left them there he'd be at a disadvantage.

George threw his stake but Vlad caught it and forced it to burst into flames in his hand, he didn't want a weapon like that lying around where someone could get slain.

Vlad decided to make the first move, he threw a punch at George. George had fast reflexes he managed to dodge most of the blow.

George shoved against Vlad, he didn't knock him over but he surprised him.

Vlad spun quickly, remembering what Bertrand had told him. As he turned he ducked down landing a powerful blow to George's abdomen, making him clutch it and stumble backwards while Vlad regained his composure.

Vlad took his chance and kicked his legs out knocking George down. As George fell, Vlad dived into his flak vest, pulling and tugging at it trying to find the contract. George gripped Vlad's leather and threw him off him. Vlad didn't realise the strength the man had.

Vlad rolled and gambolled across the grass. The dew leaving damp trails over his leather. Vlad hit his head on one of the decorative corner stones that was on the edge of the grass. His vision became hazy for a few seconds before he shook his head to clear it.

He went to get up but he was kicked squarely in the back in such a way he rolled two hundred and seventy degrees. He let out a cry as he felt his muscles tense at the action.

He looked up into the grinning face of George Hartleigh.

George aimed a kick at Vlad's ribs, Vlad managed to dodge most of the blow but a sickening crack could be heard and he gasped at the sensation of a rib breaking on his right side. The searing pain that ripped through his chest. He'd had tender ribs from training with Bertrand but nothing like this. Vlad's instincts screamed for him to curl up in a ball but he thankfully pushed them back.

George prepared to hit him again but a hand caught his wrist.

"Leave my daughter's fiancé alone!"

Thomas Noble was the last person Vlad expected to save him.

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Vlad could see that George was gaining the upper hand over Thomas. Thomas was tiring easier than George but George had more experience than him. George easily ducked and dodged Tom's increasingly sluggish attacks.

Vlad knew he could only do one thing, he threw out his hand and George shot upwards in the air letting out a startled cry, his stake dropping harmlessly to the ground. Vlad pulled his hand sharply back cutting the flow of power forcing George to plummet to the ground.

George cried out as his leg twisted awkwardly underneath him.

George looked at Vlad, he knew what they wanted even if he didn't know about the more pressing matter of why they wanted it. George withdrew the contract and something that Vlad couldn't tell what it was. He wished he had x-ray vision in that moment so he could see straight through his hand to see what he was holding.

With a smirk he held it out to Vlad. The only bright side was the Council could see what it was.

George then took his time to fold it carefully, he had nothing left to lose now.

He clicked the object, or flicked something on it.

Vlad immediately realised what it was.

A lighter.

And it was getting closer and closer to the contract.

TBC

_A/N: Thanks for reading._


	30. Stand Down

A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1.

_The last chapter…_

Chapter 30: Stand Down

George didn't take his gaze from Vlad as the flame touched the paper. The sadistic smile was enough to give you nightmares.

Paper would only take seconds to burn and turn nothing more than to black ash.

Vlad needed to act quickly. They needed this to survive.

Vlad shot forwards as the middle of the contract began to burn.

With a hand on Hartleigh's chest he pushed him backwards, sending him spiralling through the air again, another crack was heard from the same leg. Another scream echoing through the night.

The Contract flew through the air still smouldering until Vlad caught it gripping it tightly. He forced air into his lungs before blowing on the contact shaking it at the same time – nothing happened. It continued to burn.

He clicked his fingers, he'd never tried this on a non-vampire lit fire so there was no guarantee it would work but he had no other choice.

He gave a sigh of relief as the flames disappeared much to George's horror.

He opened up the contract, some of the conditions had been destroyed but all the signatures still existed and more importantly the date the contract came into effect.

Erin sped to his side and looked at him, she'd sped here as quickly as she could. She hadn't learned how to fly and hopefully him and Bertrand would forget that part of her education.

"Will they accept this?" Erin asked him nervously. It was damaged after all.

"The important things are on there."

"We need to get it inside to Jonno."

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The slayers had stood down once they realised both of their leaders had been captured. The just stopped fighting where they were and looked around confused at the others. There hadn't been that many slayers to start with, the numbers Jonno had feared hadn't turned up, obviously Hartleigh thought this would be a walkover with his new weapon.

There had only been thirty slayers if that.

It reminded Erin of Claude Noble, but this was Vlad's mercy that there hadn't been too many casualties although he would have preferred there to be none.

He and Mina had dispatched his quickly with the new tasers and stun guns they'd acquired. Bertrand had easily knocked his opponents out along with Ingrid. Steph and Tom had surprised him helping the Draculas.

Overzealous vampires had killed two slayers, although it had been in self-defence while six vampires had been slain. For that Vlad was more than angry but he held the Hartleighs ultimately responsible.

Hartleigh's remaining slayers were lead into the room, they all stood terrified before the vampires and the Van Helsings. Jonno shook his head in disappointment at them. Hartleigh had known exactly how to play them to get what he wanted.

"This is the piece of paper that started all this trouble." Jonno gestured to it.

"There were three conditions to a mating between Vladimir Dracula and Erin Noble, one that Erin would become a vampire, two that their children would inherit and three that they wait to be mated until Erin was twenty one."

One of the slayers spoke up, to him what Jonno had agreed to was exactly the conditions that Hartleigh had said they had. "She was being forced to become a vampire…"

Jonno shook his head. "It's the only way she could remain with Vlad and have his children. Vampires and humans can't have children, half fangs and vampires can." Jonno looked across at Erin, he knew all the slayers were staring at the scar on her neck. Vlad pulled her close, and Erin leaned into him. The slayers watched in amazement. Erin's relationship with Vlad hadn't exactly been a secret but it hadn't been common knowledge either.

"She's one now!" Another called from the crowd. "That's why we went though this, he broke the Truce!"

Jonno looked to Vlad for help and Erin moved forwards before turning back to Vlad. She looked at him asking him for something silently. Vlad gently loosened the laces on her bodice enough so she could lift it up.

She exposed the still vivid scar to them. Robin winced at the sight feeling guilty. Vlad saw it and nodded to him, he didn't blame him anymore, not now everything was working out as it was supposed to. The slayers gasped.

"This is what they did to me. They threw a stake at Vlad, trying to break the Truce. I pushed him out the way and it landed in me. Vlad was forced to bite me to save my life. He didn't want to do it but he had to." She reached across and squeezed his fingers. "Then they added the conditions to the bottom of the contract. Vlad would never drain a slayer and he would never transform one against their will." She doubted he'd even transform one then. "Hartleigh played on your fears and you fell for it, he wanted control of the Guild and you gave it to him. You've all helped destroy the Truce." She told them sadly, deliberately leaving a space for Vlad to interject.

Erin had just proved why Vlad wanted her as his Queen, she knew exactly what to say and for that he was proud of her for it. She knew what she was fighting for an let nothing stand in her way.

He appeared to consider something for a moment, before calling across the hall, "I'll keep the Truce if they stand down."

"Do you stand down?" Jonno called to them all.

The response was almost unanimous, stakes clattered to the floor before being kicked across the room.

However it was important to remember that this wasn't all of the Guild that had betrayed them, this was only a third, but if this was ay indication the other half of the base would stand down just as easily.

Robin and Becky walked along the rows grabbing the stakes from the slayers who refused to stand down, throwing the stakes across the room.

Jonno nodded to Vlad, the Guild would need more discipline and it would take a while to work out who was fully involved and who they could trust again. To say he was disappointed in him was an understatement.

The Guild was decimated at the moment with not knowing who to trust but with a Truce, assuming the Council let Vlad and Erin live, they could manage.

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Vlad grinned at the Council, standing tall. The Council shuffled nervously under his gaze. Jorgen was still missing; still any decision made was final. This was more of an acknowledgement than an actual passing of a law or anything like that.

The remaining guests in the hall watched the Council and their future leader carefully. They were curious to why he was holding a small piece of paper triumphantly.

Mikhail's face was like thunder, in fact thunder rumbled in the background. Vlad pretended not to notice but he hadn't expected anything else from him.

Mikhail went to snatch it from him but Vlad held him back forcefully with an outstretched hand. Mikhail struggled against the invisible force holding him but nothing happened, it only served to make him look like an idiot.

"Proof that our engagement was recognised by people outside my family before Erin's transformation. Therefore making our betrothal public. A mating contract between me and Erin, signed by the slayers, two Council members, Erin, myself and the Regent. All completely official." It was amazing how three little signatures could be considered as making an engagement public.

Vlad just hoped no one pointed out that the piece of paper had failed to be an engagement in the end when it turned out it meant nothing against the Nobles' contract because of George's signature. Although they had all been there when it turned out they were engaged all along.

Usually word of mouth would have been enough, Vlad knew what they were afraid of – Erin becoming Queen.

"So do you agree it was announced publicly before Erin's transformation?" Vlad wanted an answer and he was going to wait until he got one.

The Council looked at each other before nodding.

Vlad looked at them, "Out loud." He said exasperatedly.

"Yes, it was announced publicly." Mikhail answered angrily. It was the last thing he wanted with Vlad out of the way he stood a good chance of becoming the next Grand High Vampire or at least the dominant power on the Council. "Vladimir Slovodan Napoleon Dracula is betrothed officially and publicly to Erin Elizabeth Noble." He had to say it out loud, there were witnesses.

Baylor looked at Vlad slyly. "Is the mating ceremony going to be soon?" There was something behind the question a need for information.

Vlad looked at him, "You know Erin won't be Queen if it's done before her eighteenth birthday." It was a strange legal loophole, a woman was considered as coming of age at sixteen but when a title was involved – which was rarely – then they had to wait until they were eighteen in order to be legitimately allowed to use it otherwise the title was null and void. Therefore if Erin became Vlad's mate before she was eighteen she could never legally be considered his Queen.

"That wasn't…" Baylor began, trying to defend himself.

Vlad stared them down, "You'll find out when we're having the ceremony." That was none of their business and he knew why they were asking. He'd rather keep them on their toes. "If any of you ever try and pull a stunt like this again," Vlad began calmly his face remaining expressionless, "I will make sure that no one will ever find your dust. Are we clear?" By the end his face twisted into a snarl.

No one answered him; they could have been ignoring him because he officially didn't come into his role as Grand High Vampire for another two weeks.

"Are we clear?" He repeated firmly.

Nods broke out around the Council, "Yes."

Vlad pointed outside, "Now GO!"

Vlad didn't miss the scathing glares of Baylor and Mikhail but he saw the prideful one form his Gran. That was probably the first time she'd genuinely been proud of him.

With the Council the remaining vampires fled before dawn broke and trapped them in Vlad's manor.

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Vlad chanced a glance at Erin who immediately relaxed, slumping down in the seat next to him. Erin glanced up at him shaking her head slightly unable to believe what had just happened.

The Count clapped a hand down on Vlad's shoulder, "Well done Vladdy."

"They're up to something." Vlad muttered. Erin nodded in complete agreement.

"You won for now, that's what matters."

"So we're not going to be ritually staked?" Erin wanted to double check.

Vlad kissed her head lightly, "No." She closed her eyes in relief. As he pulled back Erin noticed the pain he was in. Vlad had forgotten about the pain until that small movement.

Erin grabbed his wrist. "What's wrong?"

Vlad pressed a hand half way down his rib cage, pressing the bones there gently. "I think Hartleigh broke a rib."

Erin shook her head; it was typical that only one of them would come out unscathed. A broken rib couldn't be fatal to vampires and luckily for him it was the one thing she knew how to set and bandage. She'd had plenty of practice with her brother.

"What will happen to the Hartleighs?" Erin asked Jonno quietly. They deserved everything they got in her mind.

"They've got enough charged each to make sure they aren't a threat again." So far he counted: intimidation, forgery, fraud, kidnap, treason, mutiny and attempted murder. He was sure he'd have another half dozen at least. "Wherever they're dealt with they can't be around normal slayers."

Erin shook her head, they couldn't be dealt with in the breather way, "A prison would give them early release."

Mina nodded, they'd realised that as well. "That's why we're setting up a facility for them. A slayer prison of sorts staffed by ordinary breathers who'll just think their lunatics. They were the first but I don't think they'll be the last."

Jonno looked at Vlad, "If its okay we'll leave tomorrow." They wouldn't get far now. They had to plan how they would escort the slayers back to the Guild and how they intended to deal with the rest of them still at the base.

"Sure," Vlad hadn't expected them to leave tonight anyway, "I'll seal Andrew and George in their rooms, they won't be able to escape." He concentrated and imagined throwing a barrier over the doors.

Jonno slowly traipsed towards the door, his feet dragging on the floor as he couldn't lift his feet anymore. "This should be the end of it. Things should be back to normal now."

Vlad nodded but he felt a knot in his stomach that told him otherwise. A glance towards Erin told him she felt exactly the same.

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Ingrid caught up with Bertrand in the corridor, he looked dishevelled. He never looked this bad. His curly hair was sticking to his forehead. His leather was torn in a number of placed and Ingrid could only imagine how sharps the stakes had been to do that.

"You okay?" She asked him softly.

"Why bother Ingrid?" Bertrand snapped at her angrily. "I'm not having you act like this and then turn and run away from whatever you feel."

"I don't run away…"

"You always run away." He told her firmly cutting her off completely. "Either you feel something or you don't, you can't have it both ways. As you pointed out in two weeks I'm not Vlad's tutor anymore and unless Vlad asks me to stay on I'm leaving."

Ingrid opened her mouth but no sound came out, Bertrand let out a growl before marching down the corridor. Ingrid's legs acted before she did. She chased after him and grabbed his arms, turning him around to face her.

He looked down at her expectantly. Disappointed he began to turn away but she pulled him back again.

"I don't know how I feel." She told him. "Will was the only person who got close, I'm used to keeping everything to myself. I can't let everything out in one go."

Bertrand shook his head angrily, "But you can't keep pushing me away each time you get scared."

"I'm sorry. I only know how to act like a vampire, I can't do feelings easily."

Bertrand's voice softened, "You don't know unless you try."

"You know more about this, you're older than me." Only by three hundred and eighty years.

Bertrand shook his head, before taking a chance and kissing her forehead lightly. Ingrid closed her eyes, battling with her flight instinct.

"I'll only flap it up." She whispered to him.

Bertrand gently stroked her cheek, "Look at Vlad and Erin. They're from completely different worlds but they made it work. It has to be easier being from the same one."

Ingrid was like Erin in the respect she had problems opening up but unlike Bertrand Erin had trusted Vlad from almost the beginning. "It'll take a while."

"I waited four hundred years to find the Chosen One, I can wait longer for his sister."

Ingrid smiled before hesitantly stepping into Bertrand's embrace. Bertrand closed his arms around her, for the first time in her life she felt safe in his arms. She'd never felt that way before.

She only hoped she didn't flap this up.

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Erin took care pulling Vlad's shirt over his head as she traced the broken bone. There was no bruising so she would have to poke and prod to work out where the break was.

Gently she touched the milky white flesh, she didn't hear a gasp so she assumed it was okay. She lowered her hand and prodded again – nothing. She lowered her fingers once more and gently pushed this time he gasped.

"I think it's just cracked not broken." A crack would be healed in a couple of days. She reached for some bandages and carefully wrapped it around his torso. Her eyes caught his, seeing the intensity in them.

"I need to bandage your rib properly…"

Vlad grinned at her, pulling her down onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her waist, forcing her to wrap hers around his waist until she was sitting comfortably. Erin placed her hands on his shoulders. "Tomorrow, for now I just want to spend time with my fiancée not thinking about slayers, Councils, or contracts."

Erin half-heartedly tried to pull back from him, "Vlad…"

"Tomorrow." He told her seriously, Erin nodded before lowering her lips to his.

The world could wait a few more hours.

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The woodland was quiet as the two vampires landed soundlessly.

Mikhail punched one of the nearby trees severing it completely in half. "He pulled it off! He's too clever for his own good. If that fogging piece of paper didn't exist then it would have been the end of our problems."

"We've got time to sort it out…I said it might take a while but from what we heard about the conditions of the contract we've got plenty of time."

"We've got until he turns her into his Queen, it's whether he'll bring it forward or not." Mikhail sniffed angrily. "Every Grand High Vampire has created a new Council, having a Queen makes us useless." He ranted. He didn't want to lose his power. He could sense that the Chosen One was going to get rid of them.

Jorgen landed silently before them, his meeting had finally finished. Mikhail and Baylor looked at him with hopeful gazes on their faces.

Baylor tipped his head, this was his plan after all. "How did it go?"

"They're vampires, dangle power in front of them and they'll take it." Jorgen grinned before handing Mikhail the wax crest seal. "I got your message."

"Are they prepared to do it?"

Jorgen grinned, a malicious smirk crossing his lips. "Everything's ready, all we have to do is count down the days."

THE END

A/N: I'd like to say thank you to everyone who's read this fic.

_Thank you to everyone who's reviewed so far. They've really inspired me on._

_The final part in this trilogy will be called 'Entitled'; the first couple of chapters will be uploaded some time on Sunday._

_I would like to say thank you again for all your support during 'Fortitude' especially when I came so close to giving up completely. I can't ever thank you enough for making me feel optimistic again about typing and posting again._

_I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed typing it._


	31. AN

Author's Note

Thank you to everyone for reading and reviewing this story.

Thank you for all the reviews, you've really inspired me to keep writing this story and the next. I'm glad you enjoyed reading this story.

I have posted the final part of this trilogy. It's called 'Entitled'.

Thank you again for reading

yeknodelttil


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